Thursday 16th April 2015

[pk1]

What pisses me off is SNP spokespeople demanding Ed answer whether he will work with them ! Angus Robertson has just pulled that line on QT.

I scream inwardly 'fuck off, it's for you lot to work with Ed. Ed will be PM & you lot can support him or vote against him' !!

[LadyCentauria]

Caption competition: Prime Minister Ed Miliband receives the loyal handshake from the First Minister of Scotland.

[frightful_oik]

DD allows Nat to talk over Yvette Cooper.

[pk1]

Christ, I almost agree with Piers Morgan.

OMG, call the vet and fast !

[citizenJA]

I particularly loved the part when all of the party leaders declared their animosity for any future Tory government.

The Tory-led coalition government of the last five years decided not to attend tonight's job interview with the people they're asking to represent for the next five years. They've lied about their reason for not showing tonight. They've lied about their accomplishments during the last five years. No, this isn't how all governments behave. The UK Tory-LibDem coalition government of 2010-2015 will stand out for it's total disregard for truth, justice & fairness evidenced on a daily basis, pretty much doing whatever the hell they've wanted & making up stories about it all for the full five years. They act as though they own the country & people & may treat them both like a personal possession.

I'm shocked by Dave's behaviour. When the Tories aren't returned to government in a few weeks, I ask what the plan is when Dave 'declines to accept that'? It's likely he'll stagger a bit as he's done in the past & then say the words, 'I get it, I get that...' & go away.

I'm pretty sure the Tories know they won't get in...What they are doing though - and it's shameful - is stirring the waters and making sure the chaos they keep warning us about will, if we're not careful, happen.

There's potentially one very big fly in the ointment though: voter registration. Registration is down significantly in some areas, particularly key marginals and student towns apparently. I can see the Tories doing better than projected on this basis.

Two articles in the G today I read but didn't post on. Both were needlessly apathy generating bores I read only once. One was entitled something like, "Oh, such an apathetic electorate!"

The changes in the electoral register are a worry. People may not be properly registered to vote.

But no report or spokesperson quoted from the Electoral Commission or even party campaigners for this year's election were documented in the article to justify stridently insisting people won't be voting in large numbers.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... d-lonsdale

[RogerOThornhill]

Chaos is definitely the Tory buzzword...try and shoehorn it into every sentence.

[citizenJA]

Chaos is definitely the Tory buzzword...try and shoehorn it into every sentence.

Yes, they love it.

[pk1]

Angus Robertson is the latest I a long line of SNP MPs trotting out the 30bn lie.

Tedious nonsense.

[citizenJA]

I'm pretty sure the Tories know they won't get in...What they are doing though - and it's shameful - is stirring the waters and making sure the chaos they keep warning us about will, if we're not careful, happen.

There's potentially one very big fly in the ointment though: voter registration. Registration is down significantly in some areas, particularly key marginals and student towns apparently. I can see the Tories doing better than projected on this basis.

Maybe, but pollsters will use the register for sampling. Many not registered probably didn't vote, especially automatically registered students.

We should have an American system of being able to register on the day.

(my bold)
Do you mean the US?
I don't know of any state allowing such an oversight. Allowing an electorate to register & vote on the same day as an election could allow socialism to creep in government.
I'm glad to know I'm wrong if you're right though, sincerely.

[citizenJA]

I'm reading they had Hunt in the spin room ....

Jeremy? Did he bring his tree?

[adam]

Another Survation finding from tonight

Straight contest - Cameron or Mliband as PM

Miliband - 45%
Cameron - 40%

[citizenJA]

At last: the next caller is a kipper. The big question is do the BBC screen these people? If not, they should. If so, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Of course they screen them. You can't have just anyone in the spin room.

edited to clarify I was being sarcastic.

[frightful_oik]

Only Carswell and Morgan getting a word in. Cooper just being talked over all the time.

[frightful_oik]

Shapps 'bust as Greece' line. Shameless.

[citizenJA]

The post-debate handshaking photo leading the political blog on the G tells a totally different story.
And Farage will get to complain he's not in the G image at all!

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blo ... live#img-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[frightful_oik]

Again Cooper not allowed to answer the question.

[TechnicalEphemera]

This article is a fucking disgrace from the Indy.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 83353.html

[citizenJA]

This article is a fucking disgrace from the Indy.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 83353.html

The author just looked at those two images & didn't actually see or read the debate. Naturally, it's a made up story based upon two pictures.

[Tish]

This article is a fucking disgrace from the Indy.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 83353.html

How strange. That is totally not the picture that is trending on social media, the one posted here of Sturgon, Wood and Bennett kissing Eds hand like he's the pope, while Farage looks on like an embittered Henry VIII is the one I've seen retweeted about twenty times so far.

[LadyCentauria]

This article is a fucking disgrace from the Indy.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 83353.html

It is, indeed, a fucking disgrace of an article. I much prefer this one:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/com ... icn=puff-1

[citizenJA]

Goodnight, comrades.
love
cJA

[LadyCentauria]

Goodnight, comrades.
love
cJA

Goodnight, cJA - sleep well. Same to everyone who has already turned in for the night.

[LadyCentauria]

Alan Johnson (on This Week) just said, if we're so determined to increase property-ownership but not by building more housing why don't we give tenants of private landlords the right to buy their homes? I've tried to be as verbatim as possible

[Tish]

I thought that Farage would come across as the big winner tonight, being the only party of the right while the rest fought amongst themselves for the vote of the left, but he kind of tanked! That bit where he started shouting at the audience and accusing the BBC of a stitch up was just embarrassing. You find that sort of response online a lot, UKIPers can't really believe that the majority of people don't agree with them, so they just accuse everyone of being part of some establishment plot. They just come across as tits.

After reading a bit of the response from here and Twitter and the papers I'm even more pleased with tonight. Cameron has totally fucked himself by not appearing tonight, the spin being put out that he rose above the minows by refusing to debate has just added to the impression many people already have of him as someone who thinks he doesn't need to lower himself to engage with the masses. "Judge me by my record" he says as he refuses to debate or explain his future plans, yeah well I think the people will do just that. And it won't be pretty.

[Tish]

I love this, the Torys are apparently trying to pretend that they were deliberately excluded from tonight's debate.

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

I guess the "we're above this sort of nonsense" argument isn't playing too well.

[51A]

Great debate and decided now I have to go Plaid. Might not make one jot but it can't be blue or red with a blue stripe any more, it has to get wider.

[LadyCentauria]

Thanks TGS.

How's your ticker? And/or the arteries?

I've been meaning to ask and kept forgetting, mea culpa...

Not too bad. Fed up with eating bloody salad though.

I've got familial hypercholesterolaemia - without meds, it's about 11.5 (total HDL/LDL)

I get sick of salads and oily fish - so I don't eat that much of either. I take fish-oil supplements to compensate. Oily fish repeats on me in the vilest fashion - but I am very partial to a kedgeree made without the eggs.

Things that are actively good for you and easy to make include - baked aubergines or okra with tomatoes and lots of olive oil; ratatouille with olive oil; dhal (I use red lentils for speedy cooking and lots of spices); vegetable curries with ground almonds to thicken them; and I also eat quite a bit of pasta with puttanesca-style sauces (lots of olives) and you can use whole-wheat if you're feeling virtuous...

I've been told not to bother with the fancy margarines etc. as they only lower levels temporarily; my GP says that when you stop using them your body over-compensates and jacks up your levels. I have no idea if this is true - but stuff like Benecol is so expensive I won't buy it anyway. Use peanut butter instead of butter; also nice on bread is tapenade and any colour of ready-made pesto.

I also make huge amounts of soup - split pea, vegetable, etc. and freeze it. Makes a nicer meal for a salad-swerver than endless rabbit food if you're in a hurry or can't be arsed to cook after a busy day. Cabbage-leaves and vine leaves stuffed with spiced rice and pine nuts; peppers stuffed with a mixture of lean mince/soya mince or lentil-based bolognese sauce, rice, and spices; lots of things!

If you have the time, cash, and freezer space, I recommend putting together some dishes as above - I am tempted to cheat when I'm hungry, and knowing I can have a hearty meal in a few minutes helps me a lot. If I'm really good, I can have a treat now and then; and for me, things like strawberries are no use at all without a dollop of cream! Also, dark chocolate is low in cholesterol if it's more than 70% cocoa solids (cacao has flavonoids and anti-oxidants which help to lower cholesterol, in fact) so you can have that too.

It's not all about lettuce, you know....

Avocados are good too. Someone did a trial (admittedly small in scale, about 30 people) matching pairs of people with the same levels of LDL/HDL cholesterol then putting one on the recommended daily allowance of Benecol and their opposite number having a (limited amount of) butter but eating a small avocado at breakfast-time. After a fortnight, the avocado-eating group all showed a higher drop in LDL cholesterol than the Benecol-users did. I know that the team who ran the trial hoped to gain funding to do a larger one but don't know whether or not that happened.

[51A]

Not too bad. Fed up with eating bloody salad though.

I've got familial hypercholesterolaemia - without meds, it's about 11.5 (total HDL/LDL)

I get sick of salads and oily fish - so I don't eat that much of either. I take fish-oil supplements to compensate. Oily fish repeats on me in the vilest fashion - but I am very partial to a kedgeree made without the eggs.

Things that are actively good for you and easy to make include - baked aubergines or okra with tomatoes and lots of olive oil; ratatouille with olive oil; dhal (I use red lentils for speedy cooking and lots of spices); vegetable curries with ground almonds to thicken them; and I also eat quite a bit of pasta with puttanesca-style sauces (lots of olives) and you can use whole-wheat if you're feeling virtuous...

I've been told not to bother with the fancy margarines etc. as they only lower levels temporarily; my GP says that when you stop using them your body over-compensates and jacks up your levels. I have no idea if this is true - but stuff like Benecol is so expensive I won't buy it anyway. Use peanut butter instead of butter; also nice on bread is tapenade and any colour of ready-made pesto.

I also make huge amounts of soup - split pea, vegetable, etc. and freeze it. Makes a nicer meal for a salad-swerver than endless rabbit food if you're in a hurry or can't be arsed to cook after a busy day. Cabbage-leaves and vine leaves stuffed with spiced rice and pine nuts; peppers stuffed with a mixture of lean mince/soya mince or lentil-based bolognese sauce, rice, and spices; lots of things!

If you have the time, cash, and freezer space, I recommend putting together some dishes as above - I am tempted to cheat when I'm hungry, and knowing I can have a hearty meal in a few minutes helps me a lot. If I'm really good, I can have a treat now and then; and for me, things like strawberries are no use at all without a dollop of cream! Also, dark chocolate is low in cholesterol if it's more than 70% cocoa solids (cacao has flavonoids and anti-oxidants which help to lower cholesterol, in fact) so you can have that too.

It's not all about lettuce, you know....

Avocados are good too. Someone did a trial (admittedly small in scale, about 30 people) matching pairs of people with the same levels of LDL/HDL cholesterol then putting one on the recommended daily allowance of Benecol and their opposite number having a (limited amount of) butter but eating a small avocado at breakfast-time. After a fortnight, the avocado-eating group all showed a higher drop in LDL cholesterol than the Benecol-users did. I know that the team who ran the trial hoped to gain funding to do a larger one but don't know whether or not that happened.

I have it too, Sky, mine's over 14 and I don't medicate it because doing so made me very ill. But I found out 25 years ago and I'm still here and eat butter and all sorts of shite. Once they said don't eat eggs or oily fish, now it's do eat eggs and oily fish. They don't really have much of a clue Nor do I so I eat what I want and I'll die when I do. Only thing I don't do is the medication, it can make you ill. But it might not so if you want it, take it.

And @ Lady C: You see, a quarter of a century ago I was not "allowed" avocados or prawns and being a bit old school, I loved that as a starter with a bit of thousand island. Now all I would be forbdden is the thousand island and who knows. next decade they might find something lifesaving in a bit of thousand island.

Anyway Sky, a dodgy ticker doesn't always end your life, I have a family full of dodgy tickers still going on going on. With a bit of luck and sense, you will too. Don't let them scare you, live it your way.