Tuesday 9th December 2014

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:36 pm

Mentioned in the Pub that I am making a personalised crossword puzzle for my husband for Christmas. 95% of the answers have some memory or other connection for him/us.
It's been great fun to do.

Have managed to sneak in:
Our next Prime Minister [2 letters].
Worst Education Minister ever [4 letters]

Answers: Ed & Gove.
Will change the Gove clue if anyone feels I have been factually incorrect.

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:38 pm

Has Electoral Calculus only recently been updated to include the Kippers, can't recall such percentages for Wales before?

http://electoralcalculus.co.uk/conlist_ ... eirionnydd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:47 pm

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan · 47m 47 minutes ago
I bet @toadmeister feels a bit stupid today, having done this defence of the CIA's interrogation 'methods' in 2013:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyy ... impletons/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:52 pm

: CoalitionDefeatNo100.jpg (66.86 KiB) Viewed 12248 times

LabourLordsUK ‏@LabourLordsUK 1m1 minute ago
Coalition defeat no.100 in Lords as Peers overwhelmingly reject Grayling's #judicialreview plans 274-205 (Opp maj 69)

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:53 pm

Andy Slaughter MP ‏@hammersmithandy 6m6 minutes ago
Grayling: I made a mistake during a complicated debate, Faulks: My lords, please approve these minor changes. Hopeless. #savejudicialreview

John Hyde ‏@JohnHyde1982 8m8 minutes ago
Re-reading Commons debate last wk & Grayling's letter, this is extraordinary mistake. He got key part of his own bill wrong. #judicialreview

Sounds like he made a real mess of things. Can't wait for a write up ...

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:57 pm

IDS telling porkie pies

http://speye.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/w ... go-figure/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:58 pm

Nice one from the Lords again. It sounds as though it's been an absolute humdinger of a debate and vote. Tories lining up to speak against their own government.

Frances Crook @francescrook · 48m 48 minutes ago
Government has put 3 line whip in Lords to curtail #judicialreview but Tory & Libdem peers lining up to argue against the whip

Frances Crook @francescrook · 54m 54 minutes ago
Lord Cormack (Tory) accuses the Lord Chancellor of misdirecting the House of Commons in debate on judicial review that only lasted an hour

Frances Crook @francescrook · 1h 1 hour ago
I have to say lawyers in @UKHouseofLords are impressive. Obviously I agree with them opposing curtailing judicial review, but great debate!

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 6:59 pm

letsskiptotheleft wrote:So let me get this right, David Laws is offering something called a ''parents guarantee'' in the LibDems manifesto, which means that children will be taught by a qualified teacher, am I correct so far, help me out 'cos I have been out of synch for a while?

But didn't he go along with Gove in introducing non qualified teachers in the first place, or am I being unduly harsh on the £40 grand pocketing, jail avoiding shyster?

No, not too harsh...yes, he went along with Gove at the time allowing non-qualified teachers in the first place & no power can change that fact.

The Tory front bench didn't kidnap his goldfish to force him to do it.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:00 pm

I'm not the Devil. For goodness sake, someone recommend anything.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:01 pm

[quote="citizenJA"]I'm not the Devil. For goodness sake, JA, write something.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:03 pm

I'll let my absurd mistakes stay on board unless someone finds them too absurd to tolerate.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:06 pm

citizenJA wrote:
citizenJA wrote:I'm not the Devil. For goodness sake, JA, write something.

I missed seeing that. It's a shocker isn't it. One infamous FTN milestone passed. Have a celebratory something ...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:09 pm

Jack of Kent @JackofKent · 13m 13 minutes ago
Unprecedented for the Lords to reject a Bill on basis that Minister was so stupid that he misled the Commons on what Bill contained.

Jack of Kent @JackofKent · 18m 18 minutes ago
So: Grayling admits he cannot understand the law in the very Bill aimed at restricting Judicial Review of unlawful governmental behaviour.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:11 pm

Is this another triumph for Gove's team of whips? Or doesn't he have responsibility for those in the Lords?

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:18 pm

Dominic Cummings has been sounding off about Cameron's people being the confrontational ones over education rather than Gove. Not sure I buy it all but this is wonderful.

odysseanproject
‏@odysseanproject
16/ Cameron wouldn't look up from Country Life if he was told every state school fell into the sea, that's how interested he is in them

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:19 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Jack of Kent @JackofKent · 13m 13 minutes ago
Unprecedented for the Lords to reject a Bill on basis that Minister was so stupid that he misled the Commons on what Bill contained.

Jack of Kent @JackofKent · 18m 18 minutes ago
So: Grayling admits he cannot understand the law in the very Bill aimed at restricting Judicial Review of unlawful governmental behaviour.

You wouldn't think that installing a non-lawyer as Lord Chancellor was going to be a problem for understanding the law would you?

You would? Oh...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:27 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Jack of Kent @JackofKent · 13m 13 minutes ago
Unprecedented for the Lords to reject a Bill on basis that Minister was so stupid that he misled the Commons on what Bill contained.

Jack of Kent @JackofKent · 18m 18 minutes ago
So: Grayling admits he cannot understand the law in the very Bill aimed at restricting Judicial Review of unlawful governmental behaviour.

You wouldn't think that installing a non-lawyer as Lord Chancellor was going to be a problem for understanding the law would you?

You would? Oh...

'Cameron's judgement' needs to take its place alongside 'Portillo moment' in our common parlance. How many times ... how many times ... has he proven his breathtaking lack of it?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:32 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
citizenJA wrote:I'm not the Devil. For goodness sake, JA, write something.
I missed seeing that. It's a shocker isn't it. One infamous FTN milestone passed. Have a celebratory something ...

I'm drinking a lukewarm cup of tea with something like contentment now I'm past that hurdle.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:32 pm

Jack of Kent retweeted
Richard Horton @iofiv · 55m 55 minutes ago
Interesting to see how far down the ability curve we have gone to get from Lord Mackay to Chris Grayling. Woeful.

Jack of Kent retweeted
Richard Horton @iofiv · 34m 34 minutes ago
There was a time when performing as poorly as Chris Grayling has would have been a resignation issue.

Quite.

Am amazed that nothing is up on the G or the BBC sites about this yet.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:49 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Jack of Kent retweeted
Richard Horton @iofiv · 55m 55 minutes ago
Interesting to see how far down the ability curve we have gone to get from Lord Mackay to Chris Grayling. Woeful.

Jack of Kent retweeted
Richard Horton @iofiv · 34m 34 minutes ago
There was a time when performing as poorly as Chris Grayling has would have been a resignation issue.
Quite.

Am amazed that nothing is up on the G or the BBC sites about this yet.

Are you? Really?

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:49 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Anybody know if Mike from New Cross is any closer to getting a job after his chat with James O'Brien earlier today?

Have been keeping an eye on what I can but haven't seen anything yet. Will report in if I find anything.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:53 pm

Nick Cohen retweeted
Ian Black @ian_black · 3h 3 hours ago
The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA ‘Torture Report’ http://thebea.st/1sft2ra" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; via @shaneharris, @timkmak

Be careful ... this is very upsetting ... especially if, like me, you have always wanted to believe things might not have been quite as bad as feared.

Will anybody ever be held to account for these sickening acts?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:55 pm

citizenJA wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Jack of Kent retweeted
Richard Horton @iofiv · 55m 55 minutes ago
Interesting to see how far down the ability curve we have gone to get from Lord Mackay to Chris Grayling. Woeful.

Jack of Kent retweeted
Richard Horton @iofiv · 34m 34 minutes ago
There was a time when performing as poorly as Chris Grayling has would have been a resignation issue.
Quite.

Am amazed that nothing is up on the G or the BBC sites about this yet.
Are you? Really?

Well - call me naive - but yes. I still expect some basic journalism and reporting from them. And I would have thought this merited a teeny weeny mention.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 7:58 pm

current status on Mike from New Cross:

http://www.lbc.co.uk/heartbreaking-call ... eat-101623" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After that clip went viral, James spoke to Mike again on his show today. Mike was pleased to have brought the issue of poverty in modern Britain, but insisted he didn't want help, just to find work - any work.

If you are able to offer Mike the opportunity to get a full-time job, then please email James below with details and contact details. We will forward these to Mike and he will contact you himself.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:02 pm

Without wanting to re-open old wounds - I know people hold strong views and I neither ask nor expect them to change their view - but this from Polly Toynbee puts in a nutshell how I feel about the 2015 election.
Ignore the flaws. For only Labour can beat the Tories
Osborne’s strategy will bring ideological shrink-the-state brutality. We need to stop this however we can.

"I regard Miliband as a decent man who starts out with strong good instincts on inequality, predatory capitalism and the need to build housing and borrow for capital investment. He won the leadership partly because he rejected the Iraq war. Has he the grit and the nerve to be a good prime minister? You can never tell. But I am absolutely certain that simply by denying the Tories power, a Labour government would save Britain from irreparable harm. In the Manichean politics of these harsh times, there are only two choices: the rest is escapism."

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:19 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:current status on Mike from New Cross:

http://www.lbc.co.uk/heartbreaking-call ... eat-101623" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After that clip went viral, James spoke to Mike again on his show today. Mike was pleased to have brought the issue of poverty in modern Britain, but insisted he didn't want help, just to find work - any work.

If you are able to offer Mike the opportunity to get a full-time job, then please email James below with details and contact details. We will forward these to Mike and he will contact you himself.

Just listened to the second call, powerful, and so true for so many today. Really hope they can help him find a job. Its all so heart breaking.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:24 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote: Quite.

Am amazed that nothing is up on the G or the BBC sites about this yet.
Are you? Really?
Well - call me naive - but yes. I still expect some basic journalism and reporting from them. And I would have thought this merited a teeny weeny mention.

I'm sorry. My cynicism isn't constructive & you're absolutely right.

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:33 pm

From The Guardian.

About 43% of Britain’s homes were powered by wind last Sunday. Figures for the National Grid figures showed that an average of 7.315GW of power was produced by windfarms, setting a new record for the UK. The previous record was 7.234GW.

According to research by Accent, for the Energy Institute, and New Power Magazine, last month, 61% of people would accept the presence of a wind turbine, or several turbines, within five miles of their home.

But only 24% of people would welcome a gas extraction site with possible fracking operations nearby, and only 18% support local nuclear power generation. The only energy technology with more popular support than wind was photovoltaics (solar) panels.

It is shit that wind power, will never achieve anything.

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:45 pm

TechnicalEphemera wrote:From The Guardian.

About 43% of Britain’s homes were powered by wind last Sunday. Figures for the National Grid figures showed that an average of 7.315GW of power was produced by windfarms, setting a new record for the UK. The previous record was 7.234GW.

According to research by Accent, for the Energy Institute, and New Power Magazine, last month, 61% of people would accept the presence of a wind turbine, or several turbines, within five miles of their home.

But only 24% of people would welcome a gas extraction site with possible fracking operations nearby, and only 18% support local nuclear power generation. The only energy technology with more popular support than wind was photovoltaics (solar) panels.
It is shit that wind power, will never achieve anything.

Yeah, heard that wave power is equally crap, best not give it a chance?!

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... wave-power" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:54 pm

I wonder how long it'll take George Osborne to claim credit for the EU cracking down on tax evasion?

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_ST ... 501_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 8:59 pm

Spacedone wrote:I wonder how long it'll take George Osborne to claim credit for the EU cracking down on tax evasion?

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_ST ... 501_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hasn't he done that already? What is discussed in that press release sounds an awful lot like the 'Google Tax' he announced (again *) in his Autumn (but almost Winter really) Statement, or am I reading it wrong?

* He introduced it during the Conference season iirc.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:01 pm

TechnicalEphemera wrote:From The Guardian.

About 43% of Britain’s homes were powered by wind last Sunday. Figures for the National Grid figures showed that an average of 7.315GW of power was produced by windfarms, setting a new record for the UK. The previous record was 7.234GW.

According to research by Accent, for the Energy Institute, and New Power Magazine, last month, 61% of people would accept the presence of a wind turbine, or several turbines, within five miles of their home.

But only 24% of people would welcome a gas extraction site with possible fracking operations nearby, and only 18% support local nuclear power generation. The only energy technology with more popular support than wind was photovoltaics (solar) panels.
It is shit that wind power, will never achieve anything.

Yes it can, yes it can! Every time we visit the family in Bury, the sight of those wind turbines on the hills say to me
F R E E D O M

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:08 pm

We can do this, you know.
The UK has the capacity for becoming a greater renewable energy producer.
If we could just get permission from the fossil fuel industry....

http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... new-record" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:13 pm

Evening

An article I caught on Twitter tonight (from August 2014).

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolic ... ign=buffer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Public services are being outsourced across the world. Over the last year alone the annual contract value for outsourcing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa has increased by 29 per cent. In 2011, David Cameron declared that he wanted to ‘release the grip of state control’ on public services. This is one promise he has definitely kept – the amount spent on outsourcing public services in the UK has doubled to £88 billion since 2010. Overall the British outsourcing market is the second largest in the world outside of the USA.

Whst does this mean please: "The amount SPENT on outsourcing ...... ".

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:16 pm

citizenJA wrote:
TechnicalEphemera wrote:From The Guardian.

About 43% of Britain’s homes were powered by wind last Sunday. Figures for the National Grid figures showed that an average of 7.315GW of power was produced by windfarms, setting a new record for the UK. The previous record was 7.234GW.

According to research by Accent, for the Energy Institute, and New Power Magazine, last month, 61% of people would accept the presence of a wind turbine, or several turbines, within five miles of their home.

But only 24% of people would welcome a gas extraction site with possible fracking operations nearby, and only 18% support local nuclear power generation. The only energy technology with more popular support than wind was photovoltaics (solar) panels.
It is shit that wind power, will never achieve anything.
Yes it can, yes it can! Every time we visit the family in Bury, the sight of those wind turbines on the hills say to me
F R E E D O M

Some photos of Holcombe's (Bury) wind turbines - boy have they been whizzing tonight!
Edit to add the link -

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Holco ... CAYQ_AUoAQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:20 pm

giselle97 wrote:Evening

An article I caught on Twitter tonight (from August 2014).

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolic ... ign=buffer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Public services are being outsourced across the world. Over the last year alone the annual contract value for outsourcing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa has increased by 29 per cent. In 2011, David Cameron declared that he wanted to ‘release the grip of state control’ on public services. This is one promise he has definitely kept – the amount spent on outsourcing public services in the UK has doubled to £88 billion since 2010. Overall the British outsourcing market is the second largest in the world outside of the USA.
Whst does this mean please: "The amount SPENT on outsourcing ...... ".

It's this generation's alternative to privatization and for the private sector, much safer since if they fail they don't get blamed - the state does.

All the private sector does is move on to the next contract somewhere else. I posted on AS the other day as a reply to a comment by the chap from the IFS

But it is surely incumbent upon anyone set on taking the size of the state to its smallest in many generations to tell us what that means. How will these cuts be implemented? What will local government, the defence force, the transport system, look like in this world? Is this a fundamental reimagining of the role of the state?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course it is.

It's the neo-liberal wet dream - as small a state as they can get away with without tipping over into utter chaos with the maximum amount of what's left run by the private sector.

I can' have been the only one who shuddered when learning that there was such a thing as the Sodexo Justice Services. I'm sure they used to run our staff restaurant.

This is a fundamental change in what the state is doing and how it's run and it's time the free market and private sector cheerleaders came clean about what exactly they think the state is for.

Maybe they have and people simply haven't noticed - or cared. Well, it's about time they did before it's too late and we find we're arrested by a Sodexo policemen, tried in a Sodexo court, banged up in one of their prisons, and then, on release, looked after by their probation service. The ultimate privatization of the state.

How on earth is is this happening?

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:20 pm

giselle97 wrote:Evening

An article I caught on Twitter tonight (from August 2014).

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolic ... ign=buffer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Public services are being outsourced across the world. Over the last year alone the annual contract value for outsourcing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa has increased by 29 per cent. In 2011, David Cameron declared that he wanted to ‘release the grip of state control’ on public services. This is one promise he has definitely kept – the amount spent on outsourcing public services in the UK has doubled to £88 billion since 2010. Overall the British outsourcing market is the second largest in the world outside of the USA.
Whst does this mean please: "The amount SPENT on outsourcing ...... ".

The amount spent on the services they are now having to buy instead of they being "in house" ? Seems a hell of a lot...

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:26 pm

The next thing would have been outsourcing school services - if AET hadn't been so shit at running schools at the time, it would have been approved.

http://academiesweek.co.uk/letter-expos ... tsourcing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If the Tories get back in - schools are next on the hit-list - in academy trust schools, HTs would lose control over everything apart from the teaching staff.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:29 pm

Incidentally, I wonder how many private sector employees are working directly on state contracts i.e. how many employees have been switched from public to private over the years?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:30 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:
giselle97 wrote:Evening

An article I caught on Twitter tonight (from August 2014).

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolic ... ign=buffer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Public services are being outsourced across the world. Over the last year alone the annual contract value for outsourcing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa has increased by 29 per cent. In 2011, David Cameron declared that he wanted to ‘release the grip of state control’ on public services. This is one promise he has definitely kept – the amount spent on outsourcing public services in the UK has doubled to £88 billion since 2010. Overall the British outsourcing market is the second largest in the world outside of the USA.
Whst does this mean please: "The amount SPENT on outsourcing ...... ".
The amount spent on the services they are now having to buy instead of they being "in house" ? Seems a hell of a lot...

Miliband talked about this last night specifically about the NHS having to spend millions on the layer of competitive infrastructure current government have brought in with the Health & Social Care Act 2012.

He's binning that abomination.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 9:35 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Incidentally, I wonder how many private sector employees are working directly on state contracts i.e. how many employees have been switched from public to private over the years?

This may help - the ONS is forever documenting exclusions & inclusions of private & public sector though it takes time to sort it all out.

Public Sector Finance measures - excluding and including Government financial interventions

Since 2007/08 the Government has made several direct interventions in the UK financial sector as a response to the global financial crisis. As a result of those government interventions some banks and other financial institutions which were previously designated within National Accounts as private companies have been reclassified as public financial corporations. The government interventions and the inclusion of banking groups, such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, within the public sector have had a marked impact on the public sector finances. In recognition of this, the 2008 Budget introduced a measure of public sector debt excluding the temporary effects of financial interventions (referred to here as PSND ex). A parallel measure of public sector net borrowing (referred to as PSNB ex) was then introduced in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report.

For more detail on the methodological differences between the statistics that exclude and include the temporary effects of the financial interventions see the paper entitled Public sector finances excluding financial interventions.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/psa/publi ... -debt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Edited here to give the date on this ONS report

Part of Public Sector Finances, July 2013 Release
Released: 21 August 2013

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:06 pm

Support for austerity to "balance the books" may remain strong, but support for Osborne is starting to evaporate as it becomes clear that under the Tories tax cuts are taking precedence over debt reduction:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -criticism

IFS director Paul Johnson said the move had also limited the Treasury’s scope for bringing Britain’s mounting debts under control.

“It’s been very striking over this parliament how £12bn or so is being spent on increasing the personal [income tax] allowance [and] something like £7bn-£8bn on reducing corporation tax,” Johnson told MPs examining Osborne’s autumn statement delivered last week.

“Those are remarkable choices, as it were, in the context of the deficit reduction that you have got, and therefore the spending cuts that you have got. Clearly cutting taxes makes the arithmetic elsewhere more difficult.”

I'm struggling to understand why it's taken so long for these people to wake up to what's been happening under this Coalition government, but they do seem to be waking up - or am I imagining the press backlash to Osborne's Autumn Statement?

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:15 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Nick Cohen retweeted
Ian Black @ian_black · 3h 3 hours ago
The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA ‘Torture Report’ http://thebea.st/1sft2ra" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; via @shaneharris, @timkmak
Be careful ... this is very upsetting ... especially if, like me, you have always wanted to believe things might not have been quite as bad as feared.

Will anybody ever be held to account for these sickening acts?

The simple answer is 'no', I suspect.

Compare and contrast British Intelligence in the 1940s. 'The one that got away' is the story of a German pilot who was shot down in the Battle of Britain, who was interrogated by BI after his capture. He was put in a room with another German flyer, and they systematically searched that room to see if they were being eavesdropped. Lo and behold, they found a listening device in a bedside lamp. Thereafter, they started having conversations leaning out of the room's window. After a short while, it occurred to the guy that the British had meant the device to be found and so he started poking around the window ledge doing the "testing 1, 2, 3..." thing. He was moved very soon afterwards.

Different times, different conflict, but it always struck me as a fantastic demonstration of forward planning and thinking, as well as misdirection. Make them feel safe, let them talk, and probably record the lot.

That the CIA don't have the brains to pour piss out of boot even when the instructions are written on its sole is no surprise; the surprise is that they had no plans other than to torture and kill to no effect whatsoever. Not even to halt future atacks. It was simply revenge violence without scruple or moral, which, in my book makes them little better than ISIS beheading muslim convert, foreign aid workers.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:17 pm

Willow904 wrote:Support for austerity to "balance the books" may remain strong, but support for Osborne is starting to evaporate as it becomes clear that under the Tories tax cuts are taking precedence over debt reduction:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -criticism
IFS director Paul Johnson said the move had also limited the Treasury’s scope for bringing Britain’s mounting debts under control.

“It’s been very striking over this parliament how £12bn or so is being spent on increasing the personal [income tax] allowance [and] something like £7bn-£8bn on reducing corporation tax,” Johnson told MPs examining Osborne’s autumn statement delivered last week.

“Those are remarkable choices, as it were, in the context of the deficit reduction that you have got, and therefore the spending cuts that you have got. Clearly cutting taxes makes the arithmetic elsewhere more difficult.”
I'm struggling to understand why it's taken so long for these people to wake up to what's been happening under this Coalition government, but they do seem to be waking up - or am I imagining the press backlash to Osborne's Autumn Statement?

The cuts in corporate taxes are supposed to encourage investment but from my corporate days, the tax rate or at least minor changes made no difference to whether a project went ahead or not.

IIRC capital projects were for: expansion or new product development, replacement of worn-out or time expired equipment, safety, or cost reduction.

None of those are dependent on what the tax rate is or whether it drops by 1 or 2%. I remember being told I was an idiot because of this viewpoint by dear old Burgau but then he always was a liar...

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:18 pm

citizenJA wrote:
TechnicalEphemera wrote:From The Guardian.

About 43% of Britain’s homes were powered by wind last Sunday. Figures for the National Grid figures showed that an average of 7.315GW of power was produced by windfarms, setting a new record for the UK. The previous record was 7.234GW.

According to research by Accent, for the Energy Institute, and New Power Magazine, last month, 61% of people would accept the presence of a wind turbine, or several turbines, within five miles of their home.

But only 24% of people would welcome a gas extraction site with possible fracking operations nearby, and only 18% support local nuclear power generation. The only energy technology with more popular support than wind was photovoltaics (solar) panels.
It is shit that wind power, will never achieve anything.
Yes it can, yes it can! Every time we visit the family in Bury, the sight of those wind turbines on the hills say to me
F R E E D O M

I can see hem from my home. They're on Scout Moor, and there's a possibility that soon there'll be more of them. And I will cheer.

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:23 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
TechnicalEphemera wrote:From The Guardian.
It is shit that wind power, will never achieve anything.
Yes it can, yes it can! Every time we visit the family in Bury, the sight of those wind turbines on the hills say to me
F R E E D O M
Some photos of Holcombe's (Bury) wind turbines - boy have they been whizzing tonight!
Edit to add the link -
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Holco ... CAYQ_AUoAQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Point of order: one of the photos near the top show Ian Bevan (local Tory councillor and utter twat) stood next to Bury North MP David Nuttall (utter twat). No fans of renewables they. The local Paleolithic Tories are against anything that risks dragging Bury into the present century - after all who's going to look after the interests of Neanderthal blue rinses with a massive sense of entitlement?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:25 pm

Winds of up to 80mph causing exceptionally large waves are expected to bring dangerous conditions to the west coast of Britain, the Met Office has warned.

The severe weather, which is expected to hit the UK overnight on Tuesday and could disrupt travel and power supplies, is a result of a “weather bomb”, an intense low-pressure system with a central pressure that falls 24 millibars in a 24-hour period.

The Atlantic storm has prompted the Met Office to issue amber “be prepared” warnings of storm-force winds over Scotland and Northern Ireland with yellow “be aware” warnings in place for Wales and northern England. The high winds are expected to last through to the early hours of Thursday morning.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014 ... conditions" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:30 pm

ErnstRemarx wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:
citizenJA wrote:Yes it can, yes it can! Every time we visit the family in Bury, the sight of those wind turbines on the hills say to me
F R E E D O M
Some photos of Holcombe's (Bury) wind turbines - boy have they been whizzing tonight!
Edit to add the link -
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Holco ... CAYQ_AUoAQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Point of order: one of the photos near the top show Ian Bevan (local Tory councillor and utter twat) stood next to Bury North MP David Nuttall (utter twat). No fans of renewables they. The local Paleolithic Tories are against anything that risks dragging Bury into the present century - after all who's going to look after the interests of Neanderthal blue rinses with a massive sense of entitlement?

Cajolery! Nothing but Tory Cajolery! Get those Cajoling Tories out of those images! I've taken names Ian Bevan (he stole that name too, didn't he? I'm only half-joking) & David Nuttall posing with wind turbines they did nothing to promote really puts me out of temper.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:31 pm

ErnstRemarx wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:
citizenJA wrote:Yes it can, yes it can! Every time we visit the family in Bury, the sight of those wind turbines on the hills say to me
F R E E D O M
Some photos of Holcombe's (Bury) wind turbines - boy have they been whizzing tonight!
Edit to add the link -
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Holco ... CAYQ_AUoAQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Point of order: one of the photos near the top show Ian Bevan (local Tory councillor and utter twat) stood next to Bury North MP David Nuttall (utter twat). No fans of renewables they. The local Paleolithic Tories are against anything that risks dragging Bury into the present century - after all who's going to look after the interests of Neanderthal blue rinses with a massive sense of entitlement?

Nuttall be agonna come may

Oh how we will dance and cheer!

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Tue 09 Dec, 2014 10:53 pm

Am I a bad person for smiling at the Guardian's UKIP story.

It has a picture of a not unattractive young lady below the headline

"UKIP's Bird Denies Harassment Claims."

Not a very PC way of describing her.

(I will grab my coat on the way out....)