Wednesday 27th May 2015

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:09 am

God Bless America.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... s-arrested

Swarthlander · Post by **Swarthlander** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:29 am

TechnicalEphemera wrote:God Bless America.

And God help the rest of us.

Good morning.

Swarthlander · Post by **Swarthlander** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:33 am

Oops!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/05 ... _hp_ref=uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Labour leadership candidate Mary Creagh was asked to outline her vision for the party on BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ on Tuesday. Seven minutes later and viewers were no clearer, the MP happy to regurgitate "slogans" rather than talk clear and coherent policy.

Even the usually docile Evan Davis conveyed exasperation at Creagh’s unwillingness to “answer the very specific questions” he repeatedly posed.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:59 am

So the Tories have announced they are going to ignore the British Association of Veterinary Surgeons who have withdrawn their support for free shooting of badgers as it has been proven to be inhumane ... and will continue the badger kills in Somerset and Gloucestershire and roll out the killing to large parts of the South West.

They just don't care about science, animal welfare or what the public think. It's two fingers up at the majority of the electorate.

Morning all.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:21 am

Tim Shipman ‏@ShippersUnbound 3m3 minutes ago
What was the point of Liz Truss doing this interview? "We can't know what's in the queen's speech". Except that it has been briefed

James Tapsfield ‏@JamesTapsfield 4m4 minutes ago
Bizarre interview with Liz Truss on #today. Seemed bewildered that they wanted to ask her questions

Isabel Oakeshott ‏@IsabelOakeshott 1m1 minute ago
What's happened to Liz Truss? Robotic and humourless on @BBCr4today. She's better than this.

No she's not.

Glad she was pressed on the vote to repeal the hunting ban and said she would vote to repeal. That should get the public going a bit more.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:26 am

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 1m1 minute ago
Liz Truss says she will back a fox hunting ban in a free vote in government time. Almost no chance of this passing.

Hope he's right.

I wouldn't put it past Cameron to be working out what he can offer certain groups (SNP amongst them?) to ensure they will back it.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:31 am

Owen Smith ‏@OwenSmith_MP 7m7 minutes ago
Andy Burnham fires the starting gun today for Labour's opposition to this Two-Nation, anti-worker Tory government http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fi ... es-5768330" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

... With our membership of the EU and the future of the Human Rights Act hanging in the balance, it's vital that we offer a strong and effective Opposition ...
But today’s the day for Labour to get up off the floor, to hold the Tories to account and not repeat the big mistake of 2010...

Yes - Labour needs to really prove itself as a strong opposition. Please get your act together and be very vocal. And how well individuals speak out against the Tories' punitive and anti equality proposals will be one of my measures re who I vote for in the Labour leadership.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:43 am

"My government will...oh look you know this already since they've told their chums in the press so I'm off back to Buck House"

Morning all.

Yes, Truss saying "We don't know what's in it as it's only 8 o'clock" was very bizarre.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:53 am

Patrick Wintour ‏@patrickwintour 4m4 minutes ago
Truss backed repeal of fox hunting ban - opposite of my tweet. apologies to Mr Truss and for any false hope given to foxes.

FFS.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 9:22 am

I know this is puerile and not at all the serious political commentary such as FTN likes to encourage but it's going to be my coping mechanism for the Queens Speech pomp and guff - and it might help others too.

When Osborne is smirking from the front bench or in interviews today ... I'm going to imagine him as Natalie Rowe has described him (just seen a little twitter snap of a salient para from her book) - on all fours, in a collar, wearing a little pair of black rubber pants - being thrashed.

There you go, will that help anyone else?

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Wed 27 May, 2015 9:27 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:I know this is puerile and not at all the serious political commentary such as FTN likes to encourage but it's going to be my coping mechanism for the Queens Speech pomp and guff - and it might help others too.

When Osborne is smirking from the front bench or in interviews today ... I'm going to imagine him as Natalie Rowe has described him (just seen a little twitter snap of a salient para from her book) - on all fours, in a collar, wearing a little pair of black rubber pants - being thrashed.

There you go, will that help anyone else?

I think I'm going to be sick.

Morning all. Agree strongly with the point about Labour contesting the narrative and not getting lost in navel gazing.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Wed 27 May, 2015 9:37 am

Dear me....talk about a man obsessed...

What would the Queen's Speech be like if Ed Miliband was Prime Minister?

I won't bother telling you who because you just know don't you?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 27 May, 2015 10:27 am

Is the answer "a lot better"?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Wed 27 May, 2015 10:29 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Is the answer "a lot better"?

And we have a winner!

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 27 May, 2015 12:11 pm

Are we ever going to get the comments facility back on LabourList? Just asking for a friend.......

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Wed 27 May, 2015 12:27 pm

The Queens speech in full
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... g-pack.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Wed 27 May, 2015 12:29 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Are we ever going to get the comments facility back on LabourList? Just asking for a friend.......

I hope not, it was just a troll fest over there, or if they do then at least have a proper moderation system that culls trolls.

WelshIan · Post by **WelshIan** » Wed 27 May, 2015 12:50 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:The Queens speech in full
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... g-pack.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for this, plenty to be concerned about in there. One thing which will likely get overlooked is this on adoption, in the Education and Adoption Bill (my bold):

Adoption
• The Bill would give the Secretary of State a new power to direct one or more named local authorities to make arrangements for any or all of their adoption functions to be carried out on their behalf by one of the local authorities named or by another agency. In practice, this means that the Secretary of State can direct a number of local authorities to have adoption functions carried out on their behalf in order to create regional adoption agencies.

• When directing local authorities, the Secretary of State can list which adoption functions the arrangements should relate to. The functions which can be specified in a direction are functions in relation to: the recruitment, assessment and approval of prospective adopters; decisions about which prospective adopters a child should be matched with; and the provision of adoption support services.

Outsourcing/privatisation of adoption services - the most likely of the 3 would be recruitment, assessment and approval of prospective adopters and provision of adoption support services as run of the mill stuff can be done quite cheaply. You can therefore almost forget about the intensive, personalised support that the most difficult adoptions need.
Nothing on why/when the Secretary of State would intervene directly in the operation of this service in LAs, which is also a concern.
I have nothing against the stated purpose of regionalisation of adoption and it is a service that would benefit from this (a wider pool of prospective adopters and a wider area for children to be placed away from potential harm), but the wording above is not just about regional working.
Also, why is it lumped in with Education? There is no direct link between the 2.

WelshIan · Post by **WelshIan** » Wed 27 May, 2015 12:54 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Dear me....talk about a man obsessed...

What would the Queen's Speech be like if Ed Miliband was Prime Minister?

I won't bother telling you who because you just know don't you?

Thanks, Roger - I wish I hadn't read it, though! Do you think his mum still talks to him?

Polly's yesterday was a lot better.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Wed 27 May, 2015 12:57 pm

17m ago12:36

David Cameron was due to fly to Denmark for breakfast tomorrow with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister, at the start of a two-day, five-capital European tour. But the Danish visit has been cancelled following the news that Thorning-Schmidt has called a general election. Politics Blog, Guardian)

That's a bit extreme. Couldn't she have just said, "I'll be washing my hair"? Although I quite sympathise with the general sentiment.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 1:25 pm

TechnicalEphemera wrote:God Bless America.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... s-arrested

When US investigation units decide there's a problem, no Zurich five-star accommodation can halt justice & the hoosegow.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 1:26 pm

Good-afternoon.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 1:37 pm

PorFavor wrote:
17m ago12:36

David Cameron was due to fly to Denmark for breakfast tomorrow with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister, at the start of a two-day, five-capital European tour. But the Danish visit has been cancelled following the news that Thorning-Schmidt has called a general election. Politics Blog, Guardian)
That's a bit extreme. Couldn't she have just said, "I'll be washing my hair"? Although I quite sympathise with the general sentiment.

Yes, but we all know Dave.
The Danish PM is correct; threat of breakfast with Dave necessitates high level diversion manoeuvres.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Wed 27 May, 2015 1:55 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:The Queens speech in full
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... g-pack.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Lots of references along line of "hard working people doing the right thing"
Still no real detail on welfare cuts,
at least nowhere near £12 billion

£23,000 benefit cap:
"households are exempt where someone is entitled to Working Tax Credit or is in receipt of benefits relating to additional cost of disability, or War Widow's and Windower's Pension "

Some benefit/credit freezes,
"pensioners would be protected, as would benefits relating to the additional costs of disability"

Does this mean they're going to be sprung in July budget, or a change in tack?

Seems to be more emphasis on increasing productivity, than mentioned during election.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 1:56 pm

House of Lords
an extract from
THE KING'S SPEECH
15 August 1945

"An urgent and vital task of my Ministers will be to increase by all practicable means the number of homes available both in town and country. Accordingly they will organize the resources of the building and manufacturing industries in the most effective way to meet the housing and other essential building requirements of the nation. They will also lay before you proposals to deal with the problems of compensation and betterment in relation to town and country planning, to improve the procedure for the acquisition of land for public purposes, and otherwise to promote the best use of land in the national interest.

§ "You will be asked to approve measures to provide a comprehensive scheme of insurance against industrial injuries, to extend and improve the existing scheme of social insurance and to establish a national health service. Legislation will be introduced to repeal the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act.

§ "My Ministers will develop to the fullest possible extent the home production of good food.

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lord ... ngs-speech" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 2:02 pm

WelshIan wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:The Queens speech in full
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... g-pack.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks for this, plenty to be concerned about in there. One thing which will likely get overlooked is this on adoption, in the Education and Adoption Bill (my bold):

Adoption
• The Bill would give the Secretary of State a new power to direct one or more named local authorities to make arrangements for any or all of their adoption functions to be carried out on their behalf by one of the local authorities named or by another agency. In practice, this means that the Secretary of State can direct a number of local authorities to have adoption functions carried out on their behalf in order to create regional adoption agencies.

• When directing local authorities, the Secretary of State can list which adoption functions the arrangements should relate to. The functions which can be specified in a direction are functions in relation to: the recruitment, assessment and approval of prospective adopters; decisions about which prospective adopters a child should be matched with; and the provision of adoption support services.
Outsourcing/privatisation of adoption services - the most likely of the 3 would be recruitment, assessment and approval of prospective adopters and provision of adoption support services as run of the mill stuff can be done quite cheaply. You can therefore almost forget about the intensive, personalised support that the most difficult adoptions need.
Nothing on why/when the Secretary of State would intervene directly in the operation of this service in LAs, which is also a concern.
I have nothing against the stated purpose of regionalisation of adoption and it is a service that would benefit from this (a wider pool of prospective adopters and a wider area for children to be placed away from potential harm), but the wording above is not just about regional working.
Also, why is it lumped in with Education? There is no direct link between the 2.

(my bold)
To make it harder to repeal.
Untangling legislation is the devil to alter when it's attached to something else.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 3:33 pm

The trade union bill, put forward by the frontbench Conservative MP Sajid Javid, will create a shift from a current system whereby union members have to contract out from paying the political levy to one in which they have to contract in. The change, from a system of inertia to one in which members actively choose to pay, is likely to lead to a big drop-off in income to the unions.

The bill will introduce a 50% voting threshold for union ballot turnouts (and retain the requirement for there to be a simple majority of votes in favour). In addition, there will be a requirement that 40% of those entitled to vote must be in favour of industrial action in essential public services, such as health, education, fire and transport.

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

People already decide whether or not they want to join a union.
Union members decide together & individually to affiliate, donate & vote for whom they individually & collectively choose.
Union members do not need a c****** Tory government meddling with workers' voluntary contributions to political parties or degraded collective strength in unions.

Union members subjected to a Tory government returned by 36.9% of 66.1% of the voting electorate decide what legislative changes to union voter turn out minimums for union ballots & industrial action?

Look at the title of the article below.

Labour funding will be hit hard by changes to political levy system
Trade union bill, stipulating members have to contract in to contributing, is likely to lead to big drop in party funding

In 2014, Miliband successfully won approval allowing unions to donate to any political party collectively chosen, not defaulting those donations to Labour.
You're not up to date, Wintour, have another grape.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 27 May, 2015 4:13 pm

Hard to believe a lot of this stuff won't face opposition from both the HoL and backbenchers.......

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Wed 27 May, 2015 4:16 pm

Numbers don't add up. Loads of spends and no saves. Crock o' shite as expected.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 4:18 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Hard to believe a lot of this stuff won't face opposition from both the HoL and backbenchers.......

It's hard to believe humanitarian aid won't be deployed in unprecedented levels to the UK from human beings who give a damn about other human beings.

I beg your pardon, AnatolyKasparov & everyone else.
I've just discovered I've misread AK's post.
I thought you'd written it will face opposition...
From the HoL & backbenchers? No, probably no opposition.
I look forward to the Opposition shaking the House down (metaphorically speaking) when current Government blow it.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 5:26 pm

From the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development - OECD
May 21st 2015
In It Together Why Less Inequality Benefits All…in the United Kingdom

http://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/OECD2 ... isTime.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The UK economy has been effective in creating jobs in the recovery from the Great Recession. However, many of the new jobs are self-employed and part-time jobs.

Non-standard workers (employees in temporary and part-time contracts and self-employed) earn considerably less than standard workers (employees in full-time jobs).
- In the UK, the annual earnings of self-employed workers are 50% lower than of standard workers.
- Temporary workers earn 20% less per hour than their standard counterparts, while this reaches 30% less for part-time workers.

Part-time jobs and self-employed work do not improve the chances of getting a permanent full-time job compared to being unemployed.
- In fact, in the UK, the self-employed are less likely of moving into a standard job than the unemployed.
- Non-standard work increases inequality and poverty.
- In the UK, despite the strong poverty-reducing effect that the tax-benefit system has on households with non-standard workers, the poverty rate for households relying solely on non-standard work is 20%.
- That is 5 ½ times higher than for households relying on standard work."

(my emphasis)

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 27 May, 2015 5:32 pm

Lawson on radio 4 today, said of the promise not to raise taxes that Chancellors don't usually close avenues that might provide extra income for the government if needed. But then he added, that there are in fact loopholes in the tax laws that he might use, as well as Excise taxes...

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 27 May, 2015 5:37 pm

And surprise, surprise, when interviewing MPs from all parties [except UKIP] about the Queens speech, SNP were hedging their bets...Wouldn't commit to fighting the cuts.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 27 May, 2015 5:39 pm

The bottom line is that the Tories made a load of simplistic and contradictory "promises" to voters before the election, supposing there was no danger of them actually having to implement them (they expected themselves to fall well short of a majority, whatever tame hacks now claim, and were ready to use that as their "excuse")

Watching them trying to square various circles in the next 5 years will be "interesting" - its just a shame that real people (many of them poor and vulnerable) will suffer as a result.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 5:40 pm

Harriet Harman MP, Interim Leader of the Labour Party, response to the Queen’s Speech
an extract, the ending, below...

"Mr Speaker, the rhetoric at the beginning of this Queen’s speech is well honed.
Indeed, the best lines look uncannily like we wrote them – actually we didn’t just write them, we engraved them on a table of stone.
But that’s another story – so perhaps let’s not go there.
Mr Speaker, we fear the reality of this Queen’s speech will be very different from the rhetoric.
The Queen’s speech talks of ‘One Nation’– yet he sets the nations of the country against each other.
The Queen’s Speech talks of ‘working people’ – yet he threatens basic rights at work.
At a time when our economy, our constitution and our public services are all fragile, we fear this Tory Government will make things worse.
So as the dust settles, the real question for this Queen’s Speech is - will it improve our country, our communities and people’s lives?
That is the test that will be set for this Government.
And that is the standard to which we, as the Opposition, will hold them to account."

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1200246 ... ens-speech" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MAY 27, 2015 (3:59 PM)

Please read the whole thing.
It's hard, pointed & strong.

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Wed 27 May, 2015 6:46 pm

ohsocynical wrote:And surprise, surprise, when interviewing MPs from all parties [except UKIP] about the Queens speech, SNP were hedging their bets...Wouldn't commit to fighting the cuts.

Interesting that the SNP were wearing white roses

in homage to the Hugh MacDiarmid poem “The Little White Rose”,
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3784400

From Wiki:

MacDiarmid listed Anglophobia among his hobbies in his Who's Who entry. He died, aged 86, in Edinburgh.[3]
In 2010, letters were discovered showing that he believed a Nazi invasion of Britain would benefit Scotland. In a letter sent from Whalsay, Shetland, in April 1941, he wrote: “On balance I regard the Axis powers, tho’ more violently evil for the time being, less dangerous than our own government in the long run and indistinguishable in purpose." A year earlier, in June 1940, he wrote: “Although the Germans are appalling enough, they cannot win, but the British and French bourgeoisie can and they are a far greater enemy. If the Germans win they could not hold their gain for long, but if the French and British win it will be infinitely more difficult to get rid of them.” Marc Horne in the Daily Telegraph commented: "MacDiarmid flirted with fascism in his early thirties, when he believed it was a doctrine of the left.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_MacDiarmid
http://www.scotsman.com/news/hugh-macdi ... s-1-797634

This is the standard of elected representatives!

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:35 pm

Hello all.
Had a thought - possibly a stupid one.
How about crowd-sourcing an FTN book: 34 things the Tories don't want us to know.

Agree some kind of parameters (eg: length of chapter etc) and get 34 short, pithy entertaining chapters each telling the story of a Tory disingenuity (for want of a better word). We can combine specialist knowledge, research, compilation, writing and editing skills to put together an entertaining myth buster to titillate the electorate. Needs to be done right, but could cheer us up and generate a best-seller.

I of course have no knowledge, specialist or otherwise, but many of you do.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:47 pm

Eric_WLothian wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:And surprise, surprise, when interviewing MPs from all parties [except UKIP] about the Queens speech, SNP were hedging their bets...Wouldn't commit to fighting the cuts.
Interesting that the SNP were wearing white roses
in homage to the Hugh MacDiarmid poem “The Little White Rose”,
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3784400
From Wiki:
MacDiarmid listed Anglophobia among his hobbies in his Who's Who entry. He died, aged 86, in Edinburgh.[3]
In 2010, letters were discovered showing that he believed a Nazi invasion of Britain would benefit Scotland. In a letter sent from Whalsay, Shetland, in April 1941, he wrote: “On balance I regard the Axis powers, tho’ more violently evil for the time being, less dangerous than our own government in the long run and indistinguishable in purpose." A year earlier, in June 1940, he wrote: “Although the Germans are appalling enough, they cannot win, but the British and French bourgeoisie can and they are a far greater enemy. If the Germans win they could not hold their gain for long, but if the French and British win it will be infinitely more difficult to get rid of them.” Marc Horne in the Daily Telegraph commented: "MacDiarmid flirted with fascism in his early thirties, when he believed it was a doctrine of the left.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_MacDiarmid
http://www.scotsman.com/news/hugh-macdi ... s-1-797634
This is the standard of elected representatives!

"The rose of all the world is not for me
I want for my part
Only the little white rose of Scotland
That smells sharp and sweet - and breaks the heart."

- Hugh MacDiarmid
The Little White Rose of Scotland

SNP MPs wear the little white rose of Scotland
Wed, 27/05/2015 - 10:58
The Scottish National Party’s 56 MPs will today wear the white rose made famous by Scots poet Hugh MacDiarmid in “The Little White Rose of Scotland”, as SNP MPs and MSPs do at all Westminster and Holyrood parliament openings

http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/20 ... e-scotland" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hang on, I posted trying to figure out the symbolism.
I've not confirmed if "the while rose is worn at all Westminster & Holyrood parliament openings", as the SNP website says.
I mean nothing pointed by posting the information I've added to Eric_WLothian's informative post.
I'll tell you plain I wouldn't like SNP MPs working just for Scotland alone, just like I wouldn't like Tory MPs benefiting their friends & family, neglected the country or if Labour MPs just represented their constituencies in London - I wouldn't dig that, either.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:54 pm

Goodnight, everyone.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:56 pm

As if we weren't struggling with enough things this week - porch door shattered by stone from lawn mowing, strimmer bust, kettle kaput, mowed through Flymo lead today (powerbreaker worked very efficiently ...)

now I've got to contend with Google chrome doing all these newfangled things I don't want and don't know how to get out of ..... aaaarrrrrgh.

Just want it all back the way it was. I don't want to sign in for my settings just so I can alter the size of things for a mo ....

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:57 pm

Night PF.

At least that's nice and simple to type.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Wed 27 May, 2015 7:59 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:Hello all.
Had a thought - possibly a stupid one.
How about crowd-sourcing an FTN book: 34 things the Tories don't want us to know.

Agree some kind of parameters (eg: length of chapter etc) and get 34 short, pithy entertaining chapters each telling the story of a Tory disingenuity (for want of a better word). We can combine specialist knowledge, research, compilation, writing and editing skills to put together an entertaining myth buster to titillate the electorate. Needs to be done right, but could cheer us up and generate a best-seller.

I of course have no knowledge, specialist or otherwise, but many of you do.

I was thinking about how to get to information spread, especially things like One Button Monkeys,
"George and the Magic Money car", which deserves a larger audience, and might help get attention.
It would have made a great broadsheet,
but probably a few hundred years, too late.
At very least it would make a good Xmas card.
A book sounds interesting, not sure if I could contribute much, though have some old protest songs that aren't doing anything.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:01 pm

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Night PF

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:02 pm

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Goodnight, PorFavor

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:07 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:Hello all.
Had a thought - possibly a stupid one.
How about crowd-sourcing an FTN book: 34 things the Tories don't want us to know.

Agree some kind of parameters (eg: length of chapter etc) and get 34 short, pithy entertaining chapters each telling the story of a Tory disingenuity (for want of a better word). We can combine specialist knowledge, research, compilation, writing and editing skills to put together an entertaining myth buster to titillate the electorate. Needs to be done right, but could cheer us up and generate a best-seller.

I of course have no knowledge, specialist or otherwise, but many of you do.

You're an outstanding administrator.
What a great idea, compiling a collection of the best of FTN.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:18 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:As if we weren't struggling with enough things this week - porch door shattered by stone from lawn mowing, strimmer bust, kettle kaput, mowed through Flymo lead today (powerbreaker worked very efficiently ...)

now I've got to contend with Google chrome doing all these newfangled things I don't want and don't know how to get out of ..... aaaarrrrrgh.

Just want it all back the way it was. I don't want to sign in for my settings just so I can alter the size of things for a mo ....

Horrid day for you - have a hug

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:21 pm

Ukip MP Douglas Carswell 'feared for life' as anti-cuts protesters branded him 'Ukip scum'

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics ... 79837.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But its not the party or policies he stands for - oh no - its "extreme left behaviour"

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:29 pm

BBC4 did a bit dinnertime about the Queens speech. Did a report from outside Parliament as the Queens carriage pulled up...Not a word about the demonstration. It was only that I'd read about it on Twitter, otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:32 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:As if we weren't struggling with enough things this week - porch door shattered by stone from lawn mowing, strimmer bust, kettle kaput, mowed through Flymo lead today (powerbreaker worked very efficiently ...)

now I've got to contend with Google chrome doing all these newfangled things I don't want and don't know how to get out of ..... aaaarrrrrgh.

Just want it all back the way it was. I don't want to sign in for my settings just so I can alter the size of things for a mo ....
Horrid day for you - have a hug

Sounds as if you've had your three disasters. So it'll all be plain sailing from now on.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 27 May, 2015 8:43 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:As if we weren't struggling with enough things this week - porch door shattered by stone from lawn mowing, strimmer bust, kettle kaput, mowed through Flymo lead today (powerbreaker worked very efficiently ...)

now I've got to contend with Google chrome doing all these newfangled things I don't want and don't know how to get out of ..... aaaarrrrrgh.

Just want it all back the way it was. I don't want to sign in for my settings just so I can alter the size of things for a mo ....
Horrid day for you - have a hug
Sounds as if you've had your three disasters. So it'll all be plain sailing from now on.

Mr Riots is cooking tonight - so please don't tempt fate Ohso.