Friday 20th March 2015

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adam
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by adam »

StephenDolan wrote:Friday lunchtime joke.


Clegg: I am more anti-establishment now than when I entered government

http://gu.com/p/46zfb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:rofl:
Translation - Clegg: I hate myself.
I still believe in a town called Hope
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

adam wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
adam wrote:I had to invigilate an A Level mock this morning and completely missed even noticing whether it got a bit darker.
You're an extraordinary person getting on with making the world fit to live in though it means missing awesome celestial moments. Thank you for the work you do. I'm sorry your attention was necessarily elsewhere.
I would say that analysis was both astonishingly generous and excessive to the point of tomfoolery :) (One of the things I was doing whilst invigilating - an aside to this aside, you're not allowed to do anything when you're actually invigilating a real exam other than observe what's going on but this was just a pretend one so it didn't matter - one the things I was doing was reading about artificial intelligence (in this book which I bought because it had the maddest name of almost any book I'd ever seen) which said that one of the stumbling blocks in developing AI is a lack of understanding by the AI that it's possible for the contradictory statements 'There are no such things as Vampires' and 'Dracula is a Vampire' to both be true). (I also worked out a newer, prettier way to plan out part of next year's course, so it wasn't time wasted in a number of ways).
I had visions of you performing essential but mundane acts of educational heroism. I'm embarrassed by what I wrote now.
I'm unable to sort out correctly installing Java safely onto my desktop & my headache has returned.
That's not a call for assistance, the Linux Java download problem I'm having. I'm figuring it out.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

adam wrote:
StephenDolan wrote:Friday lunchtime joke.


Clegg: I am more anti-establishment now than when I entered government

http://gu.com/p/46zfb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:rofl:
Translation - Clegg: I hate myself.
Did he get tossed out of the food establishment he tried for lunch?
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adam
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by adam »

citizenJA wrote:I had visions of you performing essential but mundane acts of educational heroism. I'm embarrassed by what I wrote now.

Nah - it was a nice thing to say, thank you. If i find, when I mark the exams, that I've actually managed to teach them properly and it's stuck and they can use it well, then I may have made one small step on the path to educational heroism. :)
I still believe in a town called Hope
pk1
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by pk1 »

@Adam

What subject do you teach ?
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adam
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by adam »

pk1 wrote:@Adam

What subject do you teach ?
Film Studies, Media Production and sometimes Photography - film at A Level, media and photography at A level standard, but OCR Technicals (which are another exam board's version of BTEC courses, if that makes sense). Today's exam was an A2 Film Studies exam - Japanese Cinema 1950-70, Spectatorship and Documentary Cinema and Close Study: Fight Club.
I still believe in a town called Hope
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

adam wrote:
pk1 wrote:@Adam

What subject do you teach ?
Film Studies, Media Production and sometimes Photography - film at A Level, media and photography at A level standard, but OCR Technicals (which are another exam board's version of BTEC courses, if that makes sense). Today's exam was an A2 Film Studies exam - Japanese Cinema 1950-70, Spectatorship and Documentary Cinema and Close Study: Fight Club.
Seven Samurai - great film.
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Rebecca »

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Hidden away in the Clarkson rant story in the G is this little gem.
At the event to raise money for young people to take part in the arts, Clarkson was persuaded to offer up a lap around the Top Gear track by the charity auction compere Christopher Biggins.

Clarkson said: “I’ll drive somebody around in whatever I can get hold of. I’m sacked so it’s probably an Austin Maestro. So who knows? But anyway it will be my last ever lap of the Top Gear track.”

He added: “There was an 18-year waiting list to be in the audience of Top Gear, but the BBC has fucked themselves. It was a great show and they’ve fucked it up. Tonight’s the night when you have the opportunity.”

Clarkson’s Top Gear lap raised the most money at the Roundhouse event, which was hosted by radio DJ Edith Bowman and featured other lots from Jamie Cullum, who played with his band, and Ronnie Wood, who performed with Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri.

Fortunately I suspect I will soon be able to watch....

"3 old gits doing stupid things with cars" which will shortly appear on Sky under the working Title - Definitely not Top Gear 2" Rumoured to feature the Steeg - a mysterious driver dressed all in black.
Not on Sky you won't,they have already said they would not have him.
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adam
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by adam »

citizenJA wrote:
adam wrote:
pk1 wrote:@Adam

What subject do you teach ?
Film Studies, Media Production and sometimes Photography - film at A Level, media and photography at A level standard, but OCR Technicals (which are another exam board's version of BTEC courses, if that makes sense). Today's exam was an A2 Film Studies exam - Japanese Cinema 1950-70, Spectatorship and Documentary Cinema and Close Study: Fight Club.
Seven Samurai - great film.
Because I had copies of them at the time I started teaching this (on VHS, indeed) we look at Rashomon, Yojimbo and Tokyo Story - two Kurosawas to look at Japan in the past and the Ozu film to see Japan as it was in the 50s. It's fair to say that this is not the students' favourite module and that Tokyo Story is not their favourite film. They have been known to beg me to change to another topic.
I still believe in a town called Hope
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TechnicalEphemera
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by TechnicalEphemera »

Rebecca wrote:
TechnicalEphemera wrote:Hidden away in the Clarkson rant story in the G is this little gem.
At the event to raise money for young people to take part in the arts, Clarkson was persuaded to offer up a lap around the Top Gear track by the charity auction compere Christopher Biggins.

Clarkson said: “I’ll drive somebody around in whatever I can get hold of. I’m sacked so it’s probably an Austin Maestro. So who knows? But anyway it will be my last ever lap of the Top Gear track.”

He added: “There was an 18-year waiting list to be in the audience of Top Gear, but the BBC has fucked themselves. It was a great show and they’ve fucked it up. Tonight’s the night when you have the opportunity.”

Clarkson’s Top Gear lap raised the most money at the Roundhouse event, which was hosted by radio DJ Edith Bowman and featured other lots from Jamie Cullum, who played with his band, and Ronnie Wood, who performed with Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri.

Fortunately I suspect I will soon be able to watch....

"3 old gits doing stupid things with cars" which will shortly appear on Sky under the working Title - Definitely not Top Gear 2" Rumoured to feature the Steeg - a mysterious driver dressed all in black.
Not on Sky you won't,they have already said they would not have him.
Sure they will, they are just hoping the BBC get rid of him and are trying to keep the price down. Hammond is already pretty much a fixture on the channel doing Top Gear type stuff.
Release the Guardvarks.
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frightful_oik
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by frightful_oik »

Clarkson getting sacked would be the first step, (of a 1000-mile march), to me getting a licence again.
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."
ohsocynical
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ohsocynical »

an retweeted
Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 16 hrs16 hours ago
Rhyl South West (Denbighshire) result:
LAB - 63.6% (+2.7)
CON - 17.6% (+8.7)
PLAID - 8.3% (+8.3)
IND - 7.0% (+7.0)
LDEM - 3.5% (-1.9)
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
StephenDolan
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by StephenDolan »

ohsocynical wrote:an retweeted
Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 16 hrs16 hours ago
Rhyl South West (Denbighshire) result:
LAB - 63.6% (+2.7)
CON - 17.6% (+8.7)
PLAID - 8.3% (+8.3)
IND - 7.0% (+7.0)
LDEM - 3.5% (-1.9)
How come there are so many percentage increases? Did someone drop out?
AnatolyKasparov
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

Have made my first visit to the other place since March 9 to post my regular byelection review :)

Will carry on posting them there until the GE, and may get involved a bit more in things near to the day itself - but I strongly suspect that will be the end of my time at CiF; I have come to the conclusion it was that site that was stressing me out more than any other.

Of course, if Rubbisher's successor brings in some much needed changes I may reconsider - but I am not holding my breath :twisted:
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
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refitman
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by refitman »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Have made my first visit to the other place since March 9 to post my regular byelection review :)

Will carry on posting them there until the GE, and may get involved a bit more in things near to the day itself - but I strongly suspect that will be the end of my time at CiF; I have come to the conclusion it was that site that was stressing me out more than any other.

Of course, if Rubbisher's successor brings in some much needed changes I may reconsider - but I am not holding my breath :twisted:
Found it!
AnatolyKasparov wrote:So here goes, one contest this Thursday after a fallow week previously:

Denbighshire - Labour hold one of their safest seats here (in the run down seaside resort of Rhyl) with nearly two thirds of the vote - this was slightly down on 2012 and there was a decent swing to the Tories who still came a very distant second with less than 18%; Labour also scored higher than in 2008 and 2004. Plaid Cymru stood here for the first time in recent years and were rewarded with a modest 8% - though this was enough to beat both the Independents (who were runners up last time, and had polled quite well as Labour's sole opposition in 2004) and LibDems who fell to a new low (I have been saying this quite a bit lately) of just 3%. No UKIP candidate even though this might sort of area must offer them some potential - and the BNP polled a non-negligible vote in this ward back in 2008 - they have been leaving a few byelection contests uncontested recently; conserving resources ahead of the GE perhaps?

A busy end to the month next week sees five contests - another in Wales and no fewer than four in Scotland. A chance to see how much real votes are backing up the polls.......
pk1
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by pk1 »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Have made my first visit to the other place since March 9 to post my regular byelection review :)

Will carry on posting them there until the GE, and may get involved a bit more in things near to the day itself - but I strongly suspect that will be the end of my time at CiF; I have come to the conclusion it was that site that was stressing me out more than any other.

Of course, if Rubbisher's successor brings in some much needed changes I may reconsider - but I am not holding my breath :twisted:
Fingers crossed that means you'll be here more often ! :D
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by PorFavor »

Now that the dust has settled, I was expecting much more analysis of the budget today. I can't find anything much at all, which I feel is rather strange.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

PorFavor wrote:Now that the dust has settled, I was expecting much more analysis of the budget today. I can't find anything much at all, which I feel is rather strange.
Yeah, what's this about then? I swallowed my gum.

George Osborne set to meet deficit target after rise in tax receipts
Government borrowing fell to £6.9bn in February, taking the total this year to £81.8bn

http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... x-receipts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

IFS challenges George Osborne over £12bn welfare spending cut plan
Thinktank says chancellor must specify how he will reach targets announced in the budget, given that the poor had been hardest hit by benefit changes

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

You're a bad man, George Osborne.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

Urban seagulls target of UK budget windfall
Campaigners welcome chancellor’s £250,000 funding for research into aggressive behaviour of scavenging gulls

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

Thank god for this though.
You the man, Jeff.
pk1
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by pk1 »

Labour's first election poster has been unveiled by Ed Balls and Andy Burnham today in Harlow, one of the party’s target seats, and it’s the NHS and cuts. Here it is:

Image

I like it !
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

Osborne, Spring 2013, advocating plans to snuff nightingales - action unsurprising from this Chancellor who must be seen as the man 'removing feathered obstacles to economic revival'
Row over £1bn development plan on nightingale habitat site in Kent
Conservationists in clash with the government over Lodge Hill, once used by MoD to train soldiers, now home to nightingales

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... l-mod-site" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Plans to sell off the road network to raise tens of billions have still not been finalised amid Whitehall squabbling. At the same time plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations have been rocked by setbacks.

Proposals to sell public land to encourage more housebuilding have also struggled; Philip Hammond, defence secretary, was questioned as to why the Ministry of Defence had failed to release enough land.

One factor, apparently, was the presence of wild birds on some sites: prompting the chancellor to ask environment secretary Owen Paterson what more he could do to remove the feathered obstacles to economic revival.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce481fc0-8036 ... abdc0.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
MY BOLD

Current government have destroyed satire.
Last edited by citizenJA on Fri 20 Mar, 2015 5:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

pk1 wrote:Labour's first election poster has been unveiled by Ed Balls and Andy Burnham today in Harlow, one of the party’s target seats, and it’s the NHS and cuts. Here it is:

Image

I like it !
It's accurate. I mean literally.
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ohsocynical »

Val Foster retweeted
Populus ‏@PopulusPolls 6 hrs6 hours ago

Latest Populus VI:
Lab 34 (-)
Con 31 (-3)
UKIP 17 (+2)
LD 9 (+1)
Greens 5 (-)
Others 5 (-)

Tables here: http://populus.co.uk/Poll/Voting-Intention-172/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Tubby Isaacs »

I don't like it. Easy to get media storm over "we haven't cut health".
pk1
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by pk1 »

Tubby Isaacs wrote:I don't like it. Easy to get media storm over "we haven't cut health".
It's as close to the truth as it can be.

If the Cons get in & stick to the spending plans outlined in the OBR budget book, the NHS will be affected - it can't not & at least it's not attacking anybody personally - doubt the Cons will avoid doing that with their poster campaign !
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by pk1 »

Katherine Viner has been appointed editor-in-chief at the Graun
gilsey
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by gilsey »

ohsocynical wrote:Bought Alistair Darlings autobiography of the time he handled the banking crash.

Some insightful things. The following from when they were trying to sort out HBOS, cements my certainty that Osborne, whilst not being able to do his math, is a cunning operator, with absolutely no conscience.

"I said I could be filmed live from my home. I had to fly back to London on Sunday afternoon, but at least this way I would get Saturday nightin my own bed. The producers arranged to interview George Osborne for the Consevatives and Vince Cable for the Liberal Democrats. They were to be together in the studio just before my interview. My intention was to try to reassure people that we were on the case and to prepare the way for a major intervention. The emergency rescue package was close to completion, but I did not want to announce it from my sitting room in Edinburgh.

I listened to the interview with George Osborne with growing incredulity. He referred to a discussion on banking legislation that he'd had with me the previous week and a subsequent meeting that I'd authorized with Treasury civil servants on banking reforms. He then went on to refer to a discussion he'd had with the Governor, and the possibility of recapitalizing banks.
I was dismayed. There was enough there to point people in the right direction. Two thoughts went through my mind. The first was that he had said enough to suggest that he knew of our plans. The second was that if he did know, he must have known he was playing with fire. Clearly his objective, as it had been for the past year, was to claim that he had a cunning plan, so that when we announced ours it would seem as if we were following him. He was letting political advantage over-ride the need not to spook the markets."
A few weeks ago when EU finance ministers were meeting in Brussels to talk about Greece, I was following the Graun liveblog.
Osborne's contribution was to ask anyone who'd listen what planning they'd done for Grexit. Went down like a bag of cold sick.
Imo he's clueless.
One world, like it or not - John Martyn
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by PorFavor »

Tubby Isaacs wrote:I don't like it. Easy to get media storm over "we haven't cut health".
I'm not over-excited by it. Mainly because it doesn't, for me, pack much of a punch. Perhaps it's a bit too subtle\abstruse for its own good. Perhaps it's just because I'm feeling a bit woolly-headed today (is it because of the toxic smog?) and have leapt to the conclusion that every one else is, too. But somehow it doesn't have the immediate impact that I think is needed if your target audience is, say, viewing from a moving 'bus and thus only getting a fleeting glimpse.


Edited to remove extra full stop
Last edited by PorFavor on Fri 20 Mar, 2015 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ephemerid
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ephemerid »

PorFavor wrote:Now that the dust has settled, I was expecting much more analysis of the budget today. I can't find anything much at all, which I feel is rather strange.

Could that be....perish the thought.....that there was Sweet Fanny Adams in it?

Most of the stuff I've seen since the Osborne Budget has been intelligent people wondering where he will find £12BN's worth of "welfare" cuts and generalised piss-taking of Beakers' Yellow Budget. Whatever it is.

Right on cue, all the right-wing press can talk about is that insufferable boor Clarkson or little Cheryl Tweedy-as-was allegedly claiming she will be F****d over by the Mansion Tax (which she denies)


Meanwhile, for UKIP to lose one PPC a day is, to paraphrase Lady Bracknell, a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. And the marvellous Roger Helmer has opined that solar eclipses are proof that there is no such thing as global warming or climate change.

Bless his heart. He Tweeted this - "Temperates drop during a short solar eclipse. It's the Sun that drives the climate!"
NB - there is no typo in my quote.
I have visions of a horde of teetotallers suddenly collapsing to the ground as soon as that little spot of black appears......
and, it would appear, a mucky tabloid is in charge of whether it rains or not.
And there was me thinking it might be the weather.
"Poverty is the worst form of violence" - Mahatma Gandhi
Tubby Isaacs
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Tubby Isaacs »

pk1 wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:I don't like it. Easy to get media storm over "we haven't cut health".
It's as close to the truth as it can be.

If the Cons get in & stick to the spending plans outlined in the OBR budget book, the NHS will be affected - it can't not & at least it's not attacking anybody personally - doubt the Cons will avoid doing that with their poster campaign !
I personally think Osborne's plans will be breached by a mile like they have been this time.

They only need one truth to hang on to and get the attack turned against Labour.

They haven't cut the NHS budget.
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by PorFavor »

ephemerid wrote:
PorFavor wrote:Now that the dust has settled, I was expecting much more analysis of the budget today. I can't find anything much at all, which I feel is rather strange.

Could that be....perish the thought.....that there was Sweet Fanny Adams in it?

Most of the stuff I've seen since the Osborne Budget has been intelligent people wondering where he will find £12BN's worth of "welfare" cuts and generalised piss-taking of Beakers' Yellow Budget. Whatever it is.

Right on cue, all the right-wing press can talk about is that insufferable boor Clarkson or little Cheryl Tweedy-as-was allegedly claiming she will be F****d over by the Mansion Tax (which she denies)


Meanwhile, for UKIP to lose one PPC a day is, to paraphrase Lady Bracknell, a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. And the marvellous Roger Helmer has opined that solar eclipses are proof that there is no such thing as global warming or climate change.

Bless his heart. He Tweeted this - "Temperates drop during a short solar eclipse. It's the Sun that drives the climate!"
NB - there is no typo in my quote.
I have visions of a horde of teetotallers suddenly collapsing to the ground as soon as that little spot of black appears......
and, it would appear, a mucky tabloid is in charge of whether it rains or not.
And there was me thinking it might be the weather.
Ha!
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

It takes longer to get test results these days due to Tory mauling of the NHS
The X-Ray & message immediately conveyed that to me when I saw it.
Please know I'm almost certain I don't write out of a too partial loyalty to Labour - if I thought it stupid I'd tell you.
It's late afternoon, I've been working, I'm tired & the Labour party election brochure didn't cause me to smirk or shake my head.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
pk1 wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:I don't like it. Easy to get media storm over "we haven't cut health".
It's as close to the truth as it can be.

If the Cons get in & stick to the spending plans outlined in the OBR budget book, the NHS will be affected - it can't not & at least it's not attacking anybody personally - doubt the Cons will avoid doing that with their poster campaign !
I personally think Osborne's plans will be breached by a mile like they have been this time.

They only need one truth to hang on to and get the attack turned against Labour.

They haven't cut the NHS budget.
They haven't cut the NHS budget.

What?
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Tubby Isaacs »

citizenJA wrote:IFS challenges George Osborne over £12bn welfare spending cut plan
Thinktank says chancellor must specify how he will reach targets announced in the budget, given that the poor had been hardest hit by benefit changes

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

You're a bad man, George Osborne.
He's lying. He won't be able to do it, any more than he has at the moment. He's playing iron chancellor because most people too thick to query it.

Not to say he hasn't caused lots of pain.
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citizenJA
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by citizenJA »

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
citizenJA wrote:IFS challenges George Osborne over £12bn welfare spending cut plan
Thinktank says chancellor must specify how he will reach targets announced in the budget, given that the poor had been hardest hit by benefit changes

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

You're a bad man, George Osborne.
He's lying. He won't be able to do it, any more than he has at the moment. He's playing iron chancellor because most people too thick to query it.

Not to say he hasn't caused lots of pain.
You're a good friend, Tubby Isaacs, thank you for your patience with me.
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ephemerid
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ephemerid »

citizenJA wrote:
pk1 wrote:Labour's first election poster has been unveiled by Ed Balls and Andy Burnham today in Harlow, one of the party’s target seats, and it’s the NHS and cuts. Here it is:

Image

I like it !
It's accurate. I mean literally.

I think it's a good start. I'd like to see less on how crap the Tories are (although it has its place) and more on the good things Labour plans to do. People need I positive message, IMHO.

Hopefully, like the photoshopped German motorway and the youtube effort that had to be taken down due to plagiarism the other day, the Tories will cock it up again.

I'm expecting them to do something pretty nasty (as they generally do) and I'm sure it'll be personal (as it usually is) but as long as Shapps and his multiple personalities are in charge I think we can expect a few howlers.

More on UKIP - both of the PPCs in trouble today have stood as Conservatives in the past.
"Poverty is the worst form of violence" - Mahatma Gandhi
Rebecca
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Rebecca »

frightful_oik wrote:Clarkson getting sacked would be the first step, (of a 1000-mile march), to me getting a licence again.
I find the whole thing bizarre.
Btl at the guardians latest JC article there are thousands of comments.Blimey,it's just a TV programme,how can that be so important to people?Take the bloody dog out or read a book.
Apart from the mirror,the media is lazily reporting Clarksons antics,how about finding out what really happened?
Everything in the mirror piece could be verified,or not,but no journalists seem added to get up to Yorkshire.
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ErnstRemarx
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ErnstRemarx »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Have made my first visit to the other place since March 9 to post my regular byelection review :)

Will carry on posting them there until the GE, and may get involved a bit more in things near to the day itself - but I strongly suspect that will be the end of my time at CiF; I have come to the conclusion it was that site that was stressing me out more than any other.

Of course, if Rubbisher's successor brings in some much needed changes I may reconsider - but I am not holding my breath :twisted:
I've always thought you're wasted over there in Trollsville - too many bottom feeders most of the time for my liking. Start doing your weekly updates here, and let someone on CiF link to them. We might even get a few new subbers out of it! But, yes, CiF is stressful and it's awful just how LCD it, and the stories the Graun headlines with, have become.
yahyah
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by yahyah »

Afternoon.

Have to say my eclipse viewing was amazing.

We were in a neighbour's top field with a group of people.
Weather was perfect, and with three science/maths Ph.ds present a lot of discussion about the physical effects we were witnessing on the fantastic rural landscape, as well as giggling with light effects from metal colanders onto sketch pads which showed multiple sun eclipses.
What was amazing was seeing the mist appear around us as it got colder, and then the light changes across the hills. My inner hippy was 'like wow man'.

There is a point to my meanderings....

After the eclipse we had a [delicious] communal breakfast with our fellow viewers.
One of them had worked in a senior admin job in a south of England council and had whistleblown on an individual's financial corruption that involved false invoicing, and had to leave her job for her pains.
Also a member of staff was caught out watching 20 hours of hard core pornography, including, she claimed, child abuse images and it was dealt with merely as an issue of them not having enough work to do and being allocated to another department.

Another person at the breakfast is being forced into early retirement [with an attempt to gag him via a confidentiality clause]after working for a certain Welsh council, and trying to challenge the culture of corruption.
It is just so depressing, how many more councils is this sort of rotten borough stuff going on in ?
55DegreesNorth
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by 55DegreesNorth »

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/20 ... ystem_gds/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's the latest Coalition IT cock up. The Rural Payments Agency (digital by default) can't launch its new systems coz they don't work. They never has, as my mole told me 8 months ago. Francis Maudes Government Digital Service have fucked Jo most of YouGov, lost loads of data and trashed old sites that actually worked.
Perhaps the MSM might eventually pick up on it.
PorFavor
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by PorFavor »

Rebecca wrote:
frightful_oik wrote:Clarkson getting sacked would be the first step, (of a 1000-mile march), to me getting a licence again.
I find the whole thing bizarre.
Btl at the guardians latest JC article there are thousands of comments.Blimey,it's just a TV programme,how can that be so important to people?Take the bloody dog out or read a book.
Apart from the mirror,the media is lazily reporting Clarksons antics,how about finding out what really happened?
Everything in the mirror piece could be verified,or not,but no journalists seem added to get up to Yorkshire.

I'm even beginning to miss Oscar Pistorius . . .


Edited to correct my very complex seven word post. Sometimes I despair . . .
Last edited by PorFavor on Fri 20 Mar, 2015 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
yahyah
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by yahyah »

55DegreesNorth wrote:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/20 ... ystem_gds/

Here's the latest Coalition IT cock up. The Rural Payments Agency (digital by default) can't launch its new systems coz they don't work. They never has, as my mole told me 8 months ago. Francis Maudes Government Digital Service have fucked Jo most of YouGov, lost loads of data and trashed old sites that actually worked.
Perhaps the MSM might eventually pick up on it.

£154 million spent.

It's caused farmers in areas like mine a real problem even without the mapping software problems.
There are still small broadband 'no spots' and general low internet speeds.

Edited to add: Radio 4 did report it early this morning.
Last edited by yahyah on Fri 20 Mar, 2015 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ephemerid
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ephemerid »

citizenJA wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
pk1 wrote: It's as close to the truth as it can be.

If the Cons get in & stick to the spending plans outlined in the OBR budget book, the NHS will be affected - it can't not & at least it's not attacking anybody personally - doubt the Cons will avoid doing that with their poster campaign !
I personally think Osborne's plans will be breached by a mile like they have been this time.

They only need one truth to hang on to and get the attack turned against Labour.

They haven't cut the NHS budget.
They haven't cut the NHS budget.

What?

It's true - Tubby is absolutely correct.

They have NOT cut the NHS budget. In actual cash terms they have increased it.

What they HAVE done is waste a lot of it, impose outrageous targets, fiddle about with tariffs and charges, screw up commissioning, insist on savings, and re-organise to the point that frontline services are managing increasing caseloads with less money.

The budget has gone up some - but because of the re-organisation and the changes, the services are not being funded with the cash at a time of unprecedented demand, some of which has been caused by cuts everywhere else especially in social care.

The Tories can quite truthfully claim that they haven't cut the budget.

Clever bastards.

But - the poster doesn't say what has happened, it says what will happen. I think it's OK.
"Poverty is the worst form of violence" - Mahatma Gandhi
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ErnstRemarx
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ErnstRemarx »

Rebecca wrote:
frightful_oik wrote:Clarkson getting sacked would be the first step, (of a 1000-mile march), to me getting a licence again.
I find the whole thing bizarre.
Btl at the guardians latest JC article there are thousands of comments.Blimey,it's just a TV programme,how can that be so important to people?Take the bloody dog out or read a book.
Apart from the mirror,the media is lazily reporting Clarksons antics,how about finding out what really happened?
Everything in the mirror piece could be verified,or not,but no journalists seem added to get up to Yorkshire.
Easy to guess. Hotel told Clarkson and co due for dinner, staff kept on. Clarkson and mates decide to get shitfaced in pub for 2 hours. Hotel sends staff home as not been told what's going on. Clarkson and buddies turn up well pissed and demand food. No kitchen staff at that point, Clarkson and fellow tossers offered cold meats buffet. Clarkson has childish raging fit and smacks own producer. Clarkson now guilty of affray/assault. Clarkson self-piteously whines he's going to get fired in press. TG fans proclaim a nice chap. BBC buckles and Clarkson smirks in victory.

Does that look about right?
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by gilsey »

They have cut the NHS budget, per capita.
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Tubby Isaacs
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Tubby Isaacs »

Not sure anyone can promise to increase it per capita, can they?

Agree that cash terms isn't the best indicator, but it's straightforward. And true that hasn't been cut.
ohsocynical
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by ohsocynical »

RAYMOND SPARKES retweeted
Giles Goodall ‏@GoodallGiles 21 hrs21 hours ago

#Ukip has now suspended 18 councillors, 14 candidates, 2 MEPs, 1 national secretary, 1 youth sec, 1 Scottish chair & an entire local branch

1,243 retweets 397 favourites

:shock: :shock: :shock:
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Willow904
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by Willow904 »

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Not sure anyone can promise to increase it per capita, can they?

Agree that cash terms isn't the best indicator, but it's straightforward. And true that hasn't been cut.
I was under the impression that the budget has risen in real terms each year but the Dept of Health has given a big dollop back at year end so the effect is a real terms cut in actual spending.

It's the sort of sleight of hand Osborne excels at. If he put as much effort into running the economy as he does into wrongfooting Labour we'd all be a great deal better off!
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
yahyah
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Re: Friday 20th March 2015

Post by yahyah »

ohsocynical wrote:RAYMOND SPARKES retweeted
Giles Goodall ‏@GoodallGiles 21 hrs21 hours ago

#Ukip has now suspended 18 councillors, 14 candidates, 2 MEPs, 1 national secretary, 1 youth sec, 1 Scottish chair & an entire local branch

1,243 retweets 397 favourites

:shock: :shock: :shock:
I presume those are not all today :lol:

Much as it is good to see the Kippers being punctured, the Sun/Murdoch sting seems to have just appeared at the right time to help the Tories doesn't it ?
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