Tuesday 10th November 2015

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 4:37 am

Good morning.

I probably don't need to tell you because our world renowned pig-fucker shall no doubt make much of it. Anyway no further comment other than a heads up so you can make up your own minds. HARDTalk this morning: Sarah Montague interviewing Len McCluskey. The topic: Jeremy as Labour leader... and of course the proposed union legislation.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:09 am

re: Theresa May's involvement in G4S, post last night

https://arthurkli.wordpress.com/2012/07 ... ntial-g4s/

So it appears Theresa May & her spouse owns a small, non-controlling shareholding in Prudential, which in turns owns a small, non-controlling shareholding in G4S. As do hundreds of thousands of people who have Prudential AND Legal & General life policies and pensions

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:34 am

Don't be fooled by the pr offensive......

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/don ... 27516.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:35 am

Morning all.

Michael Fallon on typical form this morning. The man should come with a health warning.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:40 am

Very telling. Child is the father to the man etc.

We moan and suffer from angst, we endlessly want to talk and dwell on our problems.
"My parents, they were stoic. They didn't even have antibiotics. My father kept fighting with double pneumonia. He hated whingers, he'd tell us to sort ourselves out; he never blamed others - my mother was just as tough.

He was born in Madras three months before the outbreak of the First World War and was sent to boarding school in Scotland, aged seven. He only saw his parents once every three years until he was 16, when he watched his mother die of cancer.
"He never complained, he just got on with being a tea planter in India

My father was very skinny after the war," says Duncan Smith. "He was incredibly lucky to survive, and was very badly burnt in one accident. He inhaled a lot of burning engine oil and ended up with emphysema. He had breathing problems for the rest of his life. But he still smoked. He could take a lot of pain - he once took his own tooth out because he couldn't get an appointment at the dentist's.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/ ... rship.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

: ScreenShot00958.jpg (74.85 KiB) Viewed 9905 times

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:44 am

This on the other hand is just weird

Iain Duncan Smith sister was pop star

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/20/redbox" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

: ScreenShot00959.jpg (100.69 KiB) Viewed 9901 times

[youtube]C8NVnkL9x5E[/youtube]

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:44 am

Thanks for that link Toby.
It is very telling and gives an insight into what IDS's internal views of the world are.
In case we hadn't noticed !

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:46 am

tinybgoat wrote:re: Theresa May's involvement in G4S, post last night

https://arthurkli.wordpress.com/2012/07 ... ntial-g4s/

So it appears Theresa May & her spouse owns a small, non-controlling shareholding in Prudential, which in turns owns a small, non-controlling shareholding in G4S. As do hundreds of thousands of people who have Prudential AND Legal & General life policies and pensions

Thanks tinyb, I knew I had not got a good grasp of it, just the story wasn't quite right. This is the link I saw. I mentioned that FB bombs out; it could be coincidence but it happens regularly on Corbyn stories, yesterdays instance for the original post on this matter a rare non JC happening. Mike Siviers blog I think.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:50 am

Oh, thats what it meant by PR offensive.....

minch · Post by **minch** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:55 am

TobyLatimer wrote:Very telling. Child is the father to the man etc.

We moan and suffer from angst, we endlessly want to talk and dwell on our problems.
"My parents, they were stoic. They didn't even have antibiotics. My father kept fighting with double pneumonia. He hated whingers, he'd tell us to sort ourselves out; he never blamed others - my mother was just as tough.

He was born in Madras three months before the outbreak of the First World War and was sent to boarding school in Scotland, aged seven. He only saw his parents once every three years until he was 16, when he watched his mother die of cancer.
"He never complained, he just got on with being a tea planter in India

My father was very skinny after the war," says Duncan Smith. "He was incredibly lucky to survive, and was very badly burnt in one accident. He inhaled a lot of burning engine oil and ended up with emphysema. He had breathing problems for the rest of his life. But he still smoked. He could take a lot of pain - he once took his own tooth out because he couldn't get an appointment at the dentist's.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/ ... rship.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ScreenShot00958.jpg

A task for a better person than me.... was he really the last person to fly a Spitfire in conflict?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 8:57 am

Maybe IDS believes he was. That's all that's necessary to make it true.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:01 am

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._G._Duncan_Smith" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hopefully IDS hasn't edited it.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:06 am

From Imperial War Museum:

''Wing Commander W G G Duncan-Smith, Wing Commander Flying, No. 244 Wing RAF, with "Bonzo", a bulldog mascot of one of the squadrons of the Wing, standing by his personal communications aircraft, a commandeered Italian Saiman 202, at Tortorella, Italy. Duncan-Smith joined the RAFVR as a Sergeant pilot before the War and flew his first operations with No. 611 Squadron RAF in October 1940. As his successes steadily mounted he was commissioned in spring 1941 and was then posted as a flight commander to No. 603 Squadron RAF in August 1941. Following a period of illness he was posted as adjutant to Southend airfield in January 1942, but eventually joined No. 411 Squadron RCAF as flight commander. In March 1942 Duncan-Smith was given the command of No. 604 Squadron RAF, and then led the Norwegian Spitfire Wing at North Weald until December 1942 when he was appointed Wing Commander Tactics at HQ Fighter Command. In May 1943 he arrived in the Mediterranean theatre, temporarily commanding the Luqa Fighter Wing on Malta before becoming Wing Leader of No. 244 Wing RAF in late July. Duncan Smith was promoted Group Captain in November 1943 and took command of of No. 324 Wing RAF with whom he continued to fly operationally until March 1945. His final victory score was 17 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed and two shared.''

No mention there of post '45.

minch · Post by **minch** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:09 am

yahyah wrote:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._G._Duncan_Smith

Hopefully IDS hasn't edited it.

I am confused as from the wikipedia entry for spitfires https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire it says:
The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954, by PR Mk 19 Spitfire PS888 flying from RAF Seletar, in Singapore.
I'm not sure this ties up.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:10 am

Just been looking at the Wiki page yahah, and a few others through googling his name - no doubt he was a Spitfire pilot/group captain but whether or not he was the last man to fly in conflict I can't see other than the Telegraph headline.

I might buy his book to see if it's mentioned " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:11 am

'Operational' not necessarily the same as 'conflict' ?
Presumed it would have been in Malaya ?

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:11 am

yahyah wrote:From Imperial War Museum:

''Wing Commander W G G Duncan-Smith, Wing Commander Flying, No. 244 Wing RAF, with "Bonzo", a bulldog mascot of one of the squadrons of the Wing, standing by his personal communications aircraft, a commandeered Italian Saiman 202, at Tortorella, Italy. Duncan-Smith joined the RAFVR as a Sergeant pilot before the War and flew his first operations with No. 611 Squadron RAF in October 1940. As his successes steadily mounted he was commissioned in spring 1941 and was then posted as a flight commander to No. 603 Squadron RAF in August 1941. Following a period of illness he was posted as adjutant to Southend airfield in January 1942, but eventually joined No. 411 Squadron RCAF as flight commander. In March 1942 Duncan-Smith was given the command of No. 604 Squadron RAF, and then led the Norwegian Spitfire Wing at North Weald until December 1942 when he was appointed Wing Commander Tactics at HQ Fighter Command. In May 1943 he arrived in the Mediterranean theatre, temporarily commanding the Luqa Fighter Wing on Malta before becoming Wing Leader of No. 244 Wing RAF in late July. Duncan Smith was promoted Group Captain in November 1943 and took command of of No. 324 Wing RAF with whom he continued to fly operationally until March 1945. His final victory score was 17 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed and two shared.''

No mention there of post '45.

Hmm. Who to believe. The Imperial War Museum or Perugia Underpants Smith.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:13 am

TobyLatimer wrote:Just been looking at the Wiki page yahah, and a few others through googling his name - no doubt he was a Spitfire pilot/group captain but whether or not he was the last man to fly in conflict I can't see other than the Telegraph headline.

I might buy his book to see if it's mentioned " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Try using Google Books, you may be able to read the relevant pages.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:17 am

It says 'no ebook available' on Google books, it's only 1p on Amazon i might take the plunge.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:22 am

''Operation Firedog during the Malayan Emergency saw the Spitfire fly over 1,800 operational sorties against the Malaysian communists.[137] The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954, by PR Mk 19 Spitfire PS888 flying from RAF Seletar, in Singapore.[138]''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Smith pater's Wiki entry only says '' He received a second Bar to his DFC for service in the Malayan Emergency in 1952, and was promoted to wing commander on 1 January 1953. He retired on 24 November 1960, retaining the rank of group captain.''

minch · Post by **minch** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:22 am

StephenDolan wrote:
yahyah wrote:From Imperial War Museum:

''Wing Commander W G G Duncan-Smith, Wing Commander Flying, No. 244 Wing RAF, with "Bonzo", a bulldog mascot of one of the squadrons of the Wing, standing by his personal communications aircraft, a commandeered Italian Saiman 202, at Tortorella, Italy. Duncan-Smith joined the RAFVR as a Sergeant pilot before the War and flew his first operations with No. 611 Squadron RAF in October 1940. As his successes steadily mounted he was commissioned in spring 1941 and was then posted as a flight commander to No. 603 Squadron RAF in August 1941. Following a period of illness he was posted as adjutant to Southend airfield in January 1942, but eventually joined No. 411 Squadron RCAF as flight commander. In March 1942 Duncan-Smith was given the command of No. 604 Squadron RAF, and then led the Norwegian Spitfire Wing at North Weald until December 1942 when he was appointed Wing Commander Tactics at HQ Fighter Command. In May 1943 he arrived in the Mediterranean theatre, temporarily commanding the Luqa Fighter Wing on Malta before becoming Wing Leader of No. 244 Wing RAF in late July. Duncan Smith was promoted Group Captain in November 1943 and took command of of No. 324 Wing RAF with whom he continued to fly operationally until March 1945. His final victory score was 17 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed and two shared.''

No mention there of post '45.
Hmm. Who to believe. The Imperial War Museum or Perugia Underpants Smith.

The sad thing is by questioning this it seems like we are questioning the achievments of Wing Commander W G G Duncan-Smith.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:25 am

No, it's questioning whether IDS is correct in saying his father was the last man to fly a Spitfire in conflict.

He has form for fibbing and misrepresenting things. No one can dispute that his father had what is considered a distinguished career in the RAF.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:29 am

Morning. Really useful from Jonathan Portes.

Migrants, benefits and the UK's renegotiation: questions and answers
http://www.niesr.ac.uk/blog/migrants-be ... kG30LfhDIX" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:32 am

He's a renowned fibber, but I can't see in the Telegraph piece anywhere which directly attributes it to a quote by IDS, it's just in the sub- headline and the text written by the interviewer.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:35 am

Have found something which confirms it in ''Malloch's Spitfire: The Story and Restoration of PK350''

Still, useful to get an understanding of what drives IDS, living in the shadow of such a father can't be easy.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:37 am

Jonathan Portes
‏@jdportes Jonathan Portes Retweeted Sam Coates Times
Govt figures beg more Q's than they answer. Out of date (2013), mixing up datasets, assumptions, & very odd results.

Ian Dunt Retweeted
Steve Peers ‏@StevePeers 2h2 hours ago
Steve Peers Retweeted Jonathan Portes
Keep this in mind when Cameron makes his EU renegotiation speech today: the '43% on benefits' statistic is whiffy

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:39 am

He talks about him at length in the first 20 minutes of this archived Desert Island Discs. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00947gl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:41 am

Kevin Maguire Retweeted
Jason Beattie ‏@JBeattieMirror 3m3 minutes ago
Number not contributing to pension due to low income, not working or being in education rose from 38% in 2010/12 to 50% in 2014/15 @ONS

Doesn't that just tell you everything about the state of the UK's low wage economy...

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 9:42 am

The US public health crisis coming to the uk.

http://guerillawire.org/health/death-by ... u8.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 10:14 am

Morning all.

My tea and toast was somewhat delayed this morning by having to step in and calm down a couple of rowing parents (one parked on the yellow lines...the other thought he shouldn't have and told him in no uncertain terms) - things got a bit shouty.

Interesting comments on a s.8 inspection report on Ely College who despite not having to do so, converted to academy status and joined CfBT. Went into special measures in March this year.

Despite the extremely large leadership team, there is insufficient focus from academy leaders on improving provision in English and mathematics. As standards continue to fall in these key areas, too little is being done by senior and middle leaders to improve teaching and learning.

I actually think there is scope for cuts in education (yes, really) - some schools have a too top-heavy management structure and have too many deputy heads and assistant heads for areas that would have been combined into one role. Take administration away from them and give it to staff in the school office and let teachers concentrate on teaching and learning.

The academy’s sponsor, the CfBT Schools Trust, has not been effective in supporting the leadership or development of teaching and learning, nor has it been successful in halting the decline in standards seen at the academy over the past two years. The Trust has provided additional support to senior leaders recently.

Remind me again what sponsors are supposed to add? Ely College has been with CfBT since Jan 2012 so it looks like they did bugger all for three years.

the DfE's problem is that they seem to have too few high quality sponsors - too many either add nothing or worse, they are a distraction and don't actually notice when schools decline.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 10:25 am

I remember this day 20 years ago with great sadness. You fought a good fight, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

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

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 10:33 am

I see the Romanians and Bulgarians have been invoked again.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 10:44 am

Good morfternoon.

From the Politics Live, Guardian, David Cameron at Chatham House coverage -

Q: Are you worried an Out vote could lead to the break-up of the UK?

Cameron says this is a decision for the whole of the UK. He is sure this is the right process to follow, a renegotiation followed by a referendum.

This is “do-able”, he says.

So he would appeal to fellow EU leaders to “work with me and do it”, he says.

A rough translation of the "answer"-

"Well, it's got nothing to do with me if it does."

Lonewolfie · Post by **Lonewolfie** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 10:58 am

Evenaftermorntinoon all....have been lurking for a while as I'm still trying to come to terms with a Leader of HMs Opposition who is anti-austerity, anti-war etc etc...very strange

...on the Idiot Dipped in S**t...for me, jumping out of the interview was this bit...

His father's most valuable lessons were about leadership. "If you're in charge, you have to take responsibility, even if it isn't your fault. That's crucial".

..which he obviously believes(TM)...unless it involves the deaths of his fellow citizens....

A DWP spokesman said: “Suicide is a tragic and complex issue and there are often many reasons why someone takes their life, so to link it to one event is misleading.
“Since this inquest took place under the previous Government we have made significant improvements to the Work Capability Assessment, including improving the process for people with mental health conditions.
“The percentage of people with mental health conditions who get the highest level of support has more than tripled since 2010.”

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-11-09/gove ... ssessment/

....ummm....but what's this?...

Mental health charities say the crisis may be rooted in overstretched mental health wards receiving less help and assistance from the government.
“It is a cruel result of a longstanding agenda to reduce mental health beds and treat all mental health patients – no matter how unwell – by already overstretched mental health teams in the community,” said Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane.
Earlier this month, the Daily Mail revealed that hospitals were diverting mental health patients to private hospitals in an ostensible effort to save money.
The investigation revealed NHS bosses were sending patients to wards “out of area,” with 22 NHS trusts spending up to £38.2 million on private hospital rooms between 2013 and 2014 – nearly twice as much as they spent the year before

https://www.rt.com/uk/228675-mental-hea ... ital-beds/

...and a fine example of the 'leadership' of the DWP 'taking responsibility'...

Ministers have admitted they are considering using a legal loophole to avoid publishing the results of secret reviews into 60 benefit-related deaths.

http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/mi ... ed-deaths/

I believe(TM) that this whole inhuman mess(TM - OGRFG-TCC) of regarding human life as a 'commercial stock' and devising policy based on the voodoo psychobabble emanating from the US, using the minds of intellectual pygmies, starts with Tory Blurs Labour and people like Lord Fraud and Frank Field - apolitical 'fixers', who've stayed around despite the change in ruling party, implementing the removal of care and compassion from the State (and, I'd wager, making a fair bit of cash along the way).

...and I think someone mentioned the Public Accounts Committee and their frustration at never getting answers?...and Gidiots unassailable position as the greatest economic and political mind wot has ever lived ever in the whole wide world ever ('cept for Clouncy Funt, the High (but not as high as Gidiot) Sheriff of Knobbingham)....has it explained this yet? (from 2012, so who knows what the reality is now - certainly not Natalies' poodle)...

PAC chair Margaret Hodge said it was "hard to understand why the government debt and deficit highlighted in the whole government accounts differ from those reported in the ONS’s national accounts."
"According to the former document, compiled on the basis of well-understood accounting standards, the UK’s in-year deficit for 2011-12 was £185bn. The national accounts used by the chancellor put the figure at £90bn."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12 ... 30765.html

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 11:24 am

PorFavor wrote:Good morfternoon.

From the Politics Live, Guardian, David Cameron at Chatham House coverage -

Q: Are you worried an Out vote could lead to the break-up of the UK?

Cameron says this is a decision for the whole of the UK. He is sure this is the right process to follow, a renegotiation followed by a referendum.

This is “do-able”, he says.

So he would appeal to fellow EU leaders to “work with me and do it”, he says.
A rough translation of the "answer"-

"Well, it's got nothing to do with me if it does."

I think even he can see that going down in history as the PM who relegated us to the fringes in Europe and ended the UK would be an utterly dismal legacy. The trouble is he is too lazy, and too cowardly, to minimise the chances of those things happening.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 11:42 am

Top of the morning to you, Lonewolfie, great post.

I see they also trying to reignite the deprived young/privileged old poop again, too. Someone posted a Pensioners probably list which I only matched the 'got a university education', bit, and I had to wait till I was 43 for that! My brothers lot got teaching certificates, as did my ex,and remained unemployed for more than a decade under Thatcher before most of them took off for elsewhere, all did well eventually, through using their other talents. Today teaching is going through a similar cull. I can only hope todays young people do get to do well at some point, and that they don't have to wait for long. I watched London Spy last night, the lead character worked in what looked like an Amazon type warehouse, referred to as a 'dead end job'. Thanks someone for calling it that, and displaying a bit of honesty, because loads of young people have been told that is the highest their aspirations will take them. Soulless places, coyldnt imagine a lifetime of that, but the robots will be doing the whole lot soon, so how about allowing young people some space to be human and to live instead of having to do the moronic jobsearch marathons that are planned as their fate.

Lonewolfie · Post by **Lonewolfie** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 11:45 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Kevin Maguire Retweeted
Jason Beattie ‏@JBeattieMirror 3m3 minutes ago
Number not contributing to pension due to low income, not working or being in education rose from 38% in 2010/12 to 50% in 2014/15 @ONS
Doesn't that just tell you everything about the state of the UK's low wage economy...

...and quite a lot about Thatchers 'pensions revolution'....

For an example from history, take one of the changes being examined by the AHRC’s Thatcher’s Pension Reforms project at the University of Bristol’s Department of History: the then Conservative government’s decision in 1980 to link increases in state pensions to the rise in retail prices instead of the rise in average earnings. This alteration, made entirely for reasons of short-term economy, looked small at the time but over the long-term the change, compounded annually, served to slash the value of the state pension from an already meagre 26 per cent of average earnings in 1979 to just 16 per cent within 20 years.

https://gw4ukpolitics.wordpress.com/201 ... proposals/

...and...

The 1986 Financial Services Act introduced personal pensions, made changes to contracting out and stopped employers forcing employees to join an occupational pension scheme.

http://www.professionalpensions.com/pro ... d-pensions

...so - 'we don't know what we're doing, but whatever we do, it'll mean less for the majority and more for me (Maggie) and my monsters - and our chums in the press will make us look competent whilst we talk in big words and complexify the whole shebang until absolutely no-one understands it'.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 11:54 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
PorFavor wrote:Good morfternoon.

From the Politics Live, Guardian, David Cameron at Chatham House coverage -

Q: Are you worried an Out vote could lead to the break-up of the UK?

Cameron says this is a decision for the whole of the UK. He is sure this is the right process to follow, a renegotiation followed by a referendum.

This is “do-able”, he says.

So he would appeal to fellow EU leaders to “work with me and do it”, he says.
A rough translation of the "answer"-

"Well, it's got nothing to do with me if it does."
I think even he can see that going down in history as the PM who relegated us to the fringes in Europe and ended the UK would be an utterly dismal legacy. The trouble is he is too lazy, and too cowardly, to minimise the chances of those things happening.

It's likely he'll relegate us to that while giving the impression he wants to stay in, because he is too cowardly and dishonest to say that the City, which his party privileges over and above the people, would benefit from the nation being broken up and its constituent parts and inhabitants taxed into servitude. The said population having first been primed to vote out against every last bit of common sense.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 11:55 am

David Cameron’s claim to lead the most open government ever is collapsing today as the Morning Star can reveal that over 1,800 official government e-petitions have been shut down.

But documents released after a freedom of information request by the Morning Star reveal that 1,869 e-petitions have been spiked since the site was set up.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-26 ... kHWeryGtdl

Can't say that surprises me.

Lonewolfie · Post by **Lonewolfie** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:06 pm

seeingclearly wrote:Top of the morning to you, Lonewolfie, great post.

I see they also trying to reignite the deprived young/privileged old poop again, too. Someone posted a Pensioners probably list which I only matched the 'got a university education', bit, and I had to wait till I was 43 for that! My brothers lot got teaching certificates, as did my ex,and remained unemployed for more than a decade under Thatcher before most of them took off for elsewhere, all did well eventually, through using their other talents. Today teaching is going through a similar cull. I can only hope todays young people do get to do well at some point, and that they don't have to wait for long. I watched London Spy last night, the lead character worked in what looked like an Amazon type warehouse, referred to as a 'dead end job'. Thanks someone for calling it that, and displaying a bit of honesty, because loads of young people have been told that is the highest their aspirations will take them. Soulless places, coyldnt imagine a lifetime of that, but the robots will be doing the whole lot soon, so how about allowing young people some space to be human and to live instead of having to do the moronic jobsearch marathons that are planned as their fate.

Thank you...in some ways, this explains why my tinfoil hat is so battered - it's difficult not to see it as a 'managed' process (and has been called out as such consistently since 1979 - 'Labour isn't working', unemployment around 1.4m - Tories get in and unemployment jumps to 2.5m and the economy nosedives...but they're the 'competent' ones?) - wrt to the 'warehouse' dead-end jobbery, never forget FALC...

Supporters believe fully automated luxury communism is an opportunity to realise a post-work society, where machines do the heavy lifting and employment as we know it is a thing of the past

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable- ... employment

As ever, I live in Hope (just north of Peterborough) (and, paradoxically, it's quite a bit brighter even though things looks so bad - they don't have the Lost-Deposit unhuman shield anymore...the Tories are the only target now...and, lest we forget - Corbyn

)

ttfn

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:08 pm

Camerons refusal to state any kind of position, personally and for his party, on Europe and what he will or won't put on the table for negotiation is actually stifling true debate, because all we are getting is commentary. Looking back, there is this endless chain of non-answers, I wish Corbyn would try and winkle that out of him too.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:15 pm

I thought that pose reminded me of someone. I think it's the fingers.

: health-graphics-20_1025009a.jpg (40.09 KiB) Viewed 9633 times

: gothic-films-001.jpg (97.24 KiB) Viewed 9633 times

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:20 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
yahyah wrote:''Operation Firedog during the Malayan Emergency saw the Spitfire fly over 1,800 operational sorties against the Malaysian communists.[137] The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954, by PR Mk 19 Spitfire PS888 flying from RAF Seletar, in Singapore.[138]''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Smith pater's Wiki entry only says '' He received a second Bar to his DFC for service in the Malayan Emergency in 1952, and was promoted to wing commander on 1 January 1953. He retired on 24 November 1960, retaining the rank of group captain.''
The pilot of PS888's mission on 1 April 1954 over Malaya was Squadron Leader WP Swaby. This is very well recognised as the last operational sortie by a Spitfire.

'In conflict' is an odd way to put it. Operation Firedog, the operations against Malayan communist insurgents, was a conflict whichever way you slice it. The last Spitfire mission was a photo-reconnaissance sortie by an unarmed specialist photographic variant of the aircraft. Even so, this is considered fully 'frontline' 'operational' use of the aircraft. If Smith was the last pilot to fly a Spitfire in combat, that I could understand.

Frankly, the man's service was estimable enough without the typical journalistic bullshit of having to make everything the first, the last, the biggest, best or whatever. If it's IDS that's making the claim, then he does his father a disservice.

Yep, PS888 (an unarmed photo recce Mk 19 labeled "The Last!" for the mission) flew the final sortie; Duncan Smith flew with 60 Squadron in Malaya, initially with armed recce Mk 18 Spits and latterly Vampire jet fighter bombers - the myth is that he led the final operational combat sortie (which he did) and that, as the last to land, he thus flew the last operational sorties, but that honour actually belongs to Flight Officer Frank Walters. Not wishing to denigrate an obviously brave man, this story does seem to have benefitted from a little Perugia polishing!!!

Flying visit, so to speak. Just wanted to put that record straight.

Lonewolfie · Post by **Lonewolfie** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:25 pm

Speaking of Corbyn....not sure if this is a particularly smart move, but I'm very impressed by the thinking of this 18 yr old....gives me Hope

“I’ve been a Corbyn supporter even when he was an obscure rebellious backbencher and he’s a man with a lot to offer British politics,” Horsfield told BuzzFeed News.
“I’m inspired by him standing in the woolly jumper his mum knitted for him preaching the politics of the people, surrounded by men in suits who have redefined ‘corrupt and corporate backed’ as ‘mainstream’.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/jez ... dd249RzZ89

: jctat.JPG (59.79 KiB) Viewed 9621 times

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:32 pm

Two of the "Tweets" by Dominic Cummings (Director of "Vote Leave" and former Michael Gove advisor) are painfully (and accurately) scathing of David Cameron

odysseanproject @odysseanproject

1/ News in speech is undeliverable promise on Charter. NB. Big error to assume DC team understands the constitutional niceties...
9:55 AM - 10 Nov 2015

1 1 Retweet

and -

odysseanproject @odysseanproject

5/ What happens after we #VoteLeave isn't up to Cameron - it'll be up to his successor, about which he'd be smart to stop speculating
10:36 AM - 10 Nov 2015

4 4 Retweets
1

Both from Politics Live, Guardian - my emphasis. I think David Cameron is out of his league and has been called out for the lightweight blusterer that he is. How does Labour pull his (DC's) chestnuts out of the fire (à la Scottish independence) without actually giving him a boost? Difficult one.

Edited

Brackets

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:40 pm

Cameron's apologists like to point to his first class degree, but that is arguably one of the few times in his life he has actually put some work in.

For most of his fortunate existence, since his days at Eton, he has been content to wing it - relying on his own somewhat dubious charm and the depressing tendency of too many towards unthinking deference to prevent that being too widely noticed. It is hard to hide it when it comes to this recklessly promised referendum, though.

As in Scotland, other people are going to have to do his dirty work. I just hope they avoid getting tainted by association this time.......

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:40 pm

minch wrote:... A task for a better person than me.... was he really the last person to fly a Spitfire in conflict?

I'm no better btw, minch, but what I can say is that my uncle was the last person to fly his Spitfire in conflict, which explains why I never met him. He too was born in India, but 7 or 8 years after WWI; I did know his brother though and also have tales of... I'm not sure of pre-antibiotics but have heard a tale of an emergency self appendectomy (no NHS). It doesn't bear thinking of, the guy later died of infection, not his surgical skills.

As for pulling my teeth, yeah I've done that and was bloody stupid. I should have scored some coke first, but what to do when you haven't an NHS dentist and caring for a disabled partner and child? The one I used to take my kids to did eventually accept me... during another crisis I may add. I then caused quite a commotion when I passed out in the chair under local anaesthetic. I was surrounded by several people in a panic when I came round and was suitably embarrassed.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 12:51 pm

minch wrote:
yahyah wrote:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._G._Duncan_Smith

Hopefully IDS hasn't edited it.
I am confused as from the wikipedia entry for spitfires https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire it says:
The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954, by PR Mk 19 Spitfire PS888 flying from RAF Seletar, in Singapore.
I'm not sure this ties up.

Interesting, minch, since this is in Asia. Even if we were to restrict it to WWII, the war in Asia didn't finish for another three months after Europe and what I do know is that my uncle was shot down over Burma shortly before its end, not that I know when. I can't ask my Dad since he passed a couple of years ago, neither do I know my uncle's birthday to work it out, just that he was 19.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 1:02 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:... Yep, PS888 (an unarmed photo recce Mk 19 labeled "The Last!" for the mission) flew the final sortie; Duncan Smith flew with 60 Squadron in Malaya, initially with armed recce Mk 18 Spits and latterly Vampire jet fighter bombers - the myth is that he led the final operational combat sortie (which he did) and that, as the last to land, he thus flew the last operational sorties, but that honour actually belongs to Flight Officer Frank Walters. Not wishing to denigrate an obviously brave man, this story does seem to have benefitted from a little Perugia polishing!!!

Flying visit, so to speak. Just wanted to put that record straight.

Thanks, TGS.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Tue 10 Nov, 2015 1:04 pm

TobyLatimer wrote:Very telling. Child is the father to the man etc.
We moan and suffer from angst, we endlessly want to talk and dwell on our problems.
"My parents, they were stoic. They didn't even have antibiotics. My father kept fighting with double pneumonia. He hated whingers, he'd tell us to sort ourselves out; he never blamed others - my mother was just as tough.

He was born in Madras three months before the outbreak of the First World War and was sent to boarding school in Scotland, aged seven. He only saw his parents once every three years until he was 16, when he watched his mother die of cancer.
"He never complained, he just got on with being a tea planter in India

My father was very skinny after the war," says Duncan Smith. "He was incredibly lucky to survive, and was very badly burnt in one accident. He inhaled a lot of burning engine oil and ended up with emphysema. He had breathing problems for the rest of his life. But he still smoked. He could take a lot of pain - he once took his own tooth out because he couldn't get an appointment at the dentist's.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/ ... rship.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[b]deleted attachment from original post - cJA edit[/b]

(my bold)
Until I saw the image and discovered the author's name, I believed it an exaggerated, intentionally absurd post from an anonymous blogger.

The UK's current DWP minister. I'm so sorry. A tortured, harrowing account from a dysfunctional person. May you know relief from your suffering, George Smith, find peace, love inside yourself replacing pain. Please get out of current positions of authority over other people until you find peace.

Good afternoon, everyone.