Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th December 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[gilsey]

Good morning.


If you thought the BBC platforming Kate Andrews was bad

[frog222]

One for an Archive Expert here —

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rish ... -jn3tgcqk2

” After the Conservative Party ripped itself apart once more over immigration this week, many MPs couldn’t wait to get away for the Christmas break.

“We’re like a dog returning to its sick,” one cabinet minister said of the government’s Rwanda policy. “It’s like we’re incapable of doing or talking about anything else.”

Sunak, however, can’t seem to get enough. He will follow in the footsteps of Donald Trump’s infamous adviser Steve Bannon and Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orban, when he takes to the stage at a political gathering in Italy this weekend.”

…

““This isn’t about people looking at graphs in Westminster, it’s about how people feel about their own finances — and that takes a long time to filter through,” they said. “In terms of the election, autumn is still definitely the plan.”

Sunak, however, faces a credibility problem with his argument given that the government’s decision to freeze tax thresholds — so-called stealth taxes — is dragging millions of workers into higher bands of taxation and eclipses the cuts. Asked about the contradiction in an interview with the Spectator this week, the prime minister said it was a “really ‘glass half-empty’ way to look at it”.”

Tax thresholds here are up 4.7% this year … an ‘automatic stabilizer’ , like having a reasonable level of unemployment and other payouts .

[AnatolyKasparov]

Mone is appearing on Laura K's show - of course.

Though there still aren't many lower points for the BBC than when, in the aftermath of the Christchurch mass murder, some far right dweeb was given most of that day's Newsnight to drone on about the "Great Replacement" pretty much unchallenged.

[frog222]

[refitman]

Looks like Twitter embedding is borked. It's not just here it's happening.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Yes, noticed this on another site - one more Musk triumph!

[frog222]

@gerryleonard6291 il y a 13 minutes

CAMBODIA took $50m from the Australian Govt and settled 2 refugees in a similar scam

[tinyclanger2]

A friend has just returned from italy with pictures of tuc biscuits embedded in chocolate.
I am envious beyond measure.

[tinyclanger2]

It's getting to that time of year ...
https://mastodon.online/@UrsusBubbanus/ ... 7579741183

[refitman]

It's getting to that time of year ...
https://mastodon.online/@UrsusBubbanus/ ... 7579741183

Nice

[refitman]

Wooo, tweets seem to be working again.

[frog222]

Others have done this, not FR and UK yet

[frog222]

Teachers HCW's and others are pressured to go back to work while still unwell .

Air traffic controllers (remember all that 'sickness' at Gatwick ?) and airline pilots need all their faculties, or planes are going to be falling out of the sky .

Don't tell anyone but covid attacks the brain as well as all the other organs . I've seen a couple of tweets of airline pilots refusing to fly because they knew they were not functioning normally months after testing negative ...



Happy Holidays to all jetsetters

[frog222]

Some welcome good news

I wonder how long they all knew this was coming ?

So all the hot air in the HoC has been to temporarily placate the far Right Families then ... and I wonder if any of them also knew this was coming , and thought to placate their nutters in the 150K Tory membership ?

[AnatolyKasparov]

Don't worry, a Tory election campaign based on "Starmer was a lawyer" is going to sweep all before it apparently.

[frog222]

Latest setback to the Tory Rwanda plan: there are no planes

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/late ... -cxpwnkpfc

Had the Times internet front page open, not to be seen, had to internal search for it !!!!

The comments are great fun

[frog222]

Wondering if this longer link gets access ?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6187 ... c78a6c931d

[frog222]

Wondering if this longer link gets access ?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6187 ... c78a6c931d

IT DOES !

[frog222]

[frog222]

Short one with an Opposition MP, very critical but also with no doubts of Zelenskiy's patriotism --

[AnatolyKasparov]

Putin, Netanyahu, Orban.......so many of the world's bad people are holding on desperately hoping that the Orange Man wins next year.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Well quite a Sunday.

First we had Mone and her hubby claiming they were victims of a media witch-hunt and hadn't really profited from getting a measly £60 million in profit from providing defective PPE. Apparently putting most of it in an offshore Isle of Man trust fund for them and their kids means it's not really their money in some bizarre twist of logic. God only knows who's advising them to do this shit.

Then the mighty Manchester United humiliated Liverpool by getting a 0-0 draw at Anfield when everyone (including me) thought we'd get thrashed.

And after that my friend and I got drunk and picked a stupid film to watch on Amazon Prime (don't judge me, I only get the 30 day free trial thing for Christmas presents/deliveries) which was this...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/

According to Wikipedia Mark Kermode said it was, and I quote, "the most boring, ploddingly put together, infantile, crass, adolescent, stupid, chauvinistic twaddle that I've sat through in a very, very long time."

Whereas we though it was brilliant, especially the bit where the girls had to take on an army of orcs and a dragon. Fortunately they had machine guns and a WWII B-25 medium bomber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Ame ... 5_Mitchell

Lord of the Rings would have been a lot shorter (and better) if Frodo and his mates had access to modern weapons.

[RogerOThornhill]

Talking of Mone and her hubby...

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Oh and on the day of the Autumn Statement a few weeks ago the government released a document concerning sickness/disability benefits which you can read here if you're so inclined.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... nsultation

In it the government says, quite explicitly, that anyone currently receiving the higher rate of sickness/disability benefits (support group/LCWRA) will never face a Work Capability Assessment again.

The commitment that no one with an existing LCWRA decision today will be reassessed, except in a few limited circumstances, means that they can try work without fear of losing their LCWRA financial support.

We've been trying to get confirmation of this for the last few weeks and guess what? They were talking bollocks and it took a freedom of information request to get it out of them.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... 7.pdf.html

I understand that this is a bit niche and not the biggest thing going on in the world right now but it's taking the fucking piss when a government bullshits the disabled and the ill.

In this instance I genuinely think it's incompetence rather than malice, and you've got to wonder about what they've done to hollow out and degrade the civil service to a point where shit like this is being released with statement which are wholly untrue.

They need to be gone.

[frog222]

Back to real life where people , like Baroness Moan are not just embarrassed but should be psychologically dismembered --

Roman is right now in hospital again, I don't know exactly for what .... maybe even extreme PTSD but he seems pretty lucid and together from a very recent YT with Captain Starsky .

Pre-war life he was a bit of a playboy (it seems, natch I checked !) , then an infantry sergeant after 24/2 /22, and , became an excellent shot so also a sniper .

Normally he went into the trenches with 30 rounds for his sniper rifle which in quiet times were easily enough . One time in the Bakhmut frontline he used them all up after three hours and had to continue with his kalashnikov so many meatwave orcs were approaching their trenches . And their deaths. He may have killed several score of them .

In the longer YT he talks of how he hated guns and his dream was then and now of being on a lovely beach ..... with nice company

[frog222]

Oh and on the day of the Autumn Statement a few weeks ago the government released a document concerning sickness/disability benefits which you can read here if you're so inclined.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... nsultation

In it the government says, quite explicitly, that anyone currently receiving the higher rate of sickness/disability benefits (support group/LCWRA) will never face a Work Capability Assessment again.

The commitment that no one with an existing LCWRA decision today will be reassessed, except in a few limited circumstances, means that they can try work without fear of losing their LCWRA financial support.

We've been trying to get confirmation of this for the last few weeks and guess what? They were talking bollocks and it took a freedom of information request to get it out of them.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... 7.pdf.html

I understand that this is a bit niche and not the biggest thing going on in the world right now but it's taking the fucking piss when a government bullshits the disabled and the ill.

In this instance I genuinely think it's incompetence rather than malice, and you've got to wonder about what they've done to hollow out and degrade the civil service to a point where shit like this is being released with statement which are wholly untrue.

They need to be gone.

[refitman]

@Sky - if you've got Prime and want to spend a few hours with your brain turned off, I can recommend Reacher (season 1 is complete and 3 eps of season 2 are out so far). It's a good adaptation of the books and this time they've cast someone over 5'6" for the role (Alan Ritchson is almost what I imagined reading the books).

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Cheers Refit.

Anime is my festive thing but I notice Amazon haven't added any since last year and most of what was 'free' is now 'free with ads' or you have to sign up to another streaming service.

It would seem those of us who enjoy the magical wonder of Miyazaki or girls in school uniforms fighting monsters weren't providing Mr Bezos with enough money to propel him and his rich mates into 'space' (you can buy a balloon on Ebay for £20 which will go higher).

[Sky'sGoneOut]

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Sorry, makes me laugh every time. Everyone should watch Nichijou. It's baffling.