Thursday 31st December 2015

Post by **refitman** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 7:10 am

Morning all.

Post by **refitman** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 8:37 am

So, when they said that "no developers have massive land banks waiting to be built on", they weren't exactly telling the truth, were they?

Revealed: housebuilders sitting on 600,000 plots of land
Guardian investigation questions how much Berkeley, Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey are doing to help solve housing crisis in Britain

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... loped-land" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:04 am

One of IDS top henchmen is awarded for 'services to welfare'

: ScreenShot01372.jpg (25.12 KiB) Viewed 11913 times

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... -full-list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:26 am

Morning all.

Wishing you all a happy new year - and hoping our poorly nesters get better. Big hugs to Toby.

Gongs.
The usual luvvies, sports stars, and public servants in the minor honours - with some really good folks who make a difference.

Then there's these -
Lin Homer, serial incompetent and friend to tax avoiders, becomes a Dame Commander - for service to "public finance".
Robert Devereaux, excuse-maker in chief for IDS, becomes a Knight Commander - for services to "welfare" and some other stuff.
Susan Moore, DWP director of "corporate change" - for services to public administration. I have no idea what this means.......
Jaqueline Rowell, DWP network manager of the Universal Credit Directorate, again for services to public administration.

There are quite a few HMRC, DWP, and other civil servants in the lesser categories - but they get gongs for services in voluntary work etc.
What pisses me off about the four named above is that they are being rewarded for incompetence, covering-up for ministers. and manifestly not acting as impartial public servants but as apologists as ideological as their political masters.

Jaqueline Gold, CEO of Ann Summers and Knickerbox, gets a CBE for services to women in business. Really. Now that Michelle Mone is a baroness, honoured for services to business (and hers is failing spectacularly) it won't be long before Ms.Gold, flogger of vibrators, becomes one too.

Then there's Lynton Crosby.........

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:27 am

Can't see Danczuk in the audience.

[youtube]9YBSi9iOzE4[/youtube]

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:28 am

TobyLatimer wrote:One of IDS top henchmen is awarded for 'services to welfare'
ScreenShot01372.jpg
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... -full-list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hah! We were posting at the same time!

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:39 am

ephemerid wrote:
TobyLatimer wrote:One of IDS top henchmen is awarded for 'services to welfare'
ScreenShot01372.jpg
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... -full-list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hah! We were posting at the same time!

Great minds think alike, or something

I've seen Devereux perform at one of the committee grillings, Public Accounts maybe with Hodge chairing. Thought he was a strange, nasty piece of work then. I may be wrong, he might be ok on the other stuff such as voluntary services - but as a defender of the indefensible and protector of everything wrong with IDS policies & department then this award is an insult to all the unnecessary suffering & deaths which are happening.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:48 am

refitman wrote:So, when they said that "no developers have massive land banks waiting to be built on", they weren't exactly telling the truth, were they?
Revealed: housebuilders sitting on 600,000 plots of land
Guardian investigation questions how much Berkeley, Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey are doing to help solve housing crisis in Britain

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... loped-land" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On top of all that - there are hundreds of plots of land owned by supermarkets.

Tesco alone has more than 300 of them, enough to accommodate 15,000 homes.

Some of the hoarded plots were purchased to build out-of-town superstores; but by no means all. Some plots are in towns, small enough for a handful of homes or a small block of flats.
Supermarkets have suffered a bit - so they're not building more stores. Most of the plots have planning permission for retail developments, but it shouldn't be too hard to get that changed.

Of course, Ed Miliband had planned to bring in "use it or lose it" legislation for this sort of behaviour. Quite right too.

nickyinnorfolk · Post by **nickyinnorfolk** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 9:49 am

It's quite telling that even the staunchly Tory Mail has been scathing about these honours. Meanwhile,
Andy Burnham is quoted in the Mirror regarding the Crosby knighthood.

[Burnham] said: “This outrageous award is the clearest evidence yet that the Tories think they can get away with whatever they like.

"It is a timely reminder that Labour must make it a New Year’s resolution to stop facing inwards and expose them for what they are.”

Ann Summers boss Gold got her award for services to entrepreneurship.

She attended a Tory fundraiser earlier this year as well as a press event hosted by George Osborne attacking Labour’s economic policies.

Retail tycoon Christopher Fenwick is former deputy chairman of the secretive United & Cecil Club, which has funnelled nearly £170,000 to the Tories over the past decade.

Lyndon Jones, chairman of the Welsh Conservatives, gets an MBE and Mark McInnes, director of the Scottish Conservatives, receives a CBE.

There were also honours for a string of Tory activists and staffers including an MBE for Caroline Roberts, head of the party’s disciplinary committee.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/da ... rs-7095796

Those Tory activists and staffers:

Mark McInnes. Director, Scottish Conservatives. For political service. (Edinburgh)

James Stewart. Treasurer, Scottish Conservatives. For political service. (Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire)

Marion Naomi Little. Campaign specialist, Conservative party. For political service.

Dr Spencer Simpson Pitfield. Volunteer, Conservative party. For political service. (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)

Lyndon Richard Jones. Deputy chairman, Welsh Conservative Party. For political service. (Gowerton, Swansea)

Caroline Elizabeth Roberts. Conservative party. For political service. (London)

Antonia Katharine Williams. Formerly deputy head, policy unit, prime minister’s office. For public service. (London)

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:00 am

nickyinnorfolk wrote:
There were also honours for a string of Tory activists and staffers including an MBE for Caroline Roberts, head of the party’s disciplinary committee.

You have to admit that she's done a cracking job there...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:06 am

Morning.

First thing I hear on Radio 4 is that an investigation into the behaviour of banks has been 'shelved' - the FCA say they will work with banks individually instead.

FFS. It's as if all the shit never happened - the hacking, the rip off schemes and fraud, the expenses, lobbying and cronyism in parliament and so on. The opportunity for reform gone with the election of a Tory government.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:08 am

The other half of the double act, and stagehands too. Watching those PAC sessions was when crooks and charlatans sprang to mind, along with a few even worse thoughts, time has only increased those feelings, and I still don't understand why we have a system that has no checks on duplicity in public spending. Perhaps there has never been the need before? I distinctly remember how suddenly government funding changed from talking in millions to talking in billions.

I note that unpaid carers feature on the Gs alternative awards list. I'd give them all something better than an honour, their hearts desire, probably, all the ones I know are absolute stars, and we have no real figure to tell us how many there are.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:09 am

refitman wrote:So, when they said that "no developers have massive land banks waiting to be built on", they weren't exactly telling the truth, were they?
Revealed: housebuilders sitting on 600,000 plots of land
Guardian investigation questions how much Berkeley, Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey are doing to help solve housing crisis in Britain

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... loped-land" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This article certainly highlights some serious issues in our housing policy, but it does seem to skirt around the central issue - the growing gulf between house prices and take home pay. If private developers built more houses, would they be able to sell them? Are these land banks in places where there is demand for new builds to own? How many social housing dwellings are there being built compared to the past? We know that the last time the private sector kept up with demand was the 1920's, so is it realistic to expect the private sector to resolve what has become a national crisis as a result of changes to the government's approach to housing? House builders clearly aren't helping, but aren't responsible for many of the things which are suppressing demand for homes to own, such as mortgage restrictions and stalling wages. They are helping to keep prices artificially high by restricting supply, but that's just one factor in many, the vast majority of which are the responsibility of government. I guess I'm just disappointed that an article about housing hasn't even a passing mention to the role of council and social housing. Under Labour, many local new builds were built in cunjunction with the council and the local housing association. It seems to me that this is the bit that has fallen away in recent years, rather than houses to buy, which are still being built at the same slow but steady rate.

nickyinnorfolk · Post by **nickyinnorfolk** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:10 am

Although Gold and Mone have been rewarded for being female entrepreneurs, sadly it wasn't because either are outstanding businesswomen on their own merits. Gold's father (who made his fortune from porn) ensured a sinecure for his daughter, judging that it would be better PR for a woman to head a company specialising in selling sex to women. Mone may have had the original idea for a gel bra, but it was apparently her ex husband who ran the business - Mone did the PR (a kindred spirit to Dave).

I'm sure there must be more worthy female entrepreneurs out there who aren't selling kinky underwear made in sweat shops and did well through their own efforts.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:18 am

The Yorkshire Post absolutely scathing about the inadequacy of Truss and the Tory government's response / actions re flood prevention and defence. And then they turn their withering comment to the honours system and Cameron's abuse of it .... well, well, well.

OpinionYP ‏@OpinionYP 2h2 hours ago Wales, United Kingdom
The Minister out of her depth - today's editorial on #yorkshirefloods, & #honourslist row http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opi ... -1-7649386" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … #yplive #tadcasterbridge

... And Ms Truss also needs to be aware that the extra £280m being made available for Yorkshire’s flood defences is just a drop in the proverbial ocean – her latest utterances make no reference to the decision in 2011 to scrap a £180m scheme in Leeds which might have spared the West Yorkshire city from the worst of this week’s flooding damage. Such cost-cutting has proven to be a false economy.

If Tadcaster’s partially collapsed bridge, a structure built during the Industrial Revolution, won’t convince Ms Truss do act, nothing will. After all, she was among the first Ministers to sign up to George Osborne’s latest budget demands and then cheered loudly when the Chancellor defended his record in the Commons...

... THE KNIGHTHOOD controversially awarded by the Government to Sir Lynton Crosby, the Tory election strategist, threatens to make a mockery of an honours system which was intended to recognise and reward those public-spirited individuals who made a genuine difference to their local communities.

It is even more incongruous when set in the context of a Westminster select committee which concluded three years ago that no one should be honoured for simply ‘doing the day job’ and David Cameron’s complacent response to the floods...

nickyinnorfolk · Post by **nickyinnorfolk** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:21 am

I bet the despicable Mark Clarke would have been up for an award as well, had it not been for the tragic suicide of Elliot Johnson and the subsequent bullying scandal.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:22 am

nickyinnorfolk wrote:Although Gold and Mone have been rewarded for being female entrepreneurs, sadly it wasn't because either are outstanding businesswomen on their own merits. Gold's father (who made his fortune from porn) ensured a sinecure for his daughter, judging that it would be better PR for a woman to head a company specialising in selling sex to women. Mone may have had the original idea for a gel bra, but it was apparently her ex husband who ran the business - Mone did the PR (a kindred spirit to Dave).

I'm sure there must be more worthy female entrepreneurs out there who aren't selling kinky underwear made in sweat shops and did well through their own efforts.

I'm sure there are, but are they Tories? It may be that the kind of female entrepreneurs that we might admire are not the type to pimp themselves out to Dave and co, but prefer to keep their political allegiences to themselves in a more dignified manner.

Or, you know, Dave and co may just have a bit of a thing about businesswomen and underwear....

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:25 am

TobyLatimer wrote:
ephemerid wrote:
TobyLatimer wrote:One of IDS top henchmen is awarded for 'services to welfare'
ScreenShot01372.jpg
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... -full-list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hah! We were posting at the same time!
Great minds think alike, or something

I've seen Devereux perform at one of the committee grillings, Public Accounts maybe with Hodge chairing. Thought he was a strange, nasty piece of work then. I may be wrong, he might be ok on the other stuff such as voluntary services - but as a defender of the indefensible and protector of everything wrong with IDS policies & department then this award is an insult to all the unnecessary suffering & deaths which are happening.

Devereaux was one of 4 DWP mandarins who got a £20,000 bonus in 2012/13. His total earnings that year were £200,000.
Apparently, he donated the bonus to the civil servants' charity.

This was the year when the NAO criticised DWP for writing off £40 Million on Universal Credit IT and spending a further £91 Million on IT which would be functional for just a few years before being binned as well. Amyas Morse was less than impressed to find that DWP fraud and error had increased that year to £3.5 Billion, and as a result refused to sign off the DWP accounts. Worse still, undrpayments reached £1.4 Billion - all money legally due to claimants which they were not paid.

Also that year, the delays with Atos caused a backlog of 700,000 people waiting for their first Work Capability Assessments, while longer term ESA and IB claimants were being re-assessed every few months in an attempt to get them off benefits - and IDS was forced to admit that it was unlikely that ESA claimants would be moved on to UC by 2017, even though he had told the W&P Select Committee that six and a half million people would be on the new benefit by then; at that point there were just 6 jobcentres involved in UC.
Devereaux told the Select Committee that he was working with Atos and Capita to increase the number of "qualified" assessors for the PIP roll-out, and denied that there were many processing delays - at a time when 300,000 people had been waiting for months.
He has also claimed that the wait for the first payments for JSA and ESA have gone down - at a time when they were rising.

IDS was alleged to have leant on the Tory members of the Select Committee to place blame for any problems on Devereaux. IDS' wilder pronouncements - eg. we will make "staggering" savings with the benefit cap, sanctioned claimants are a "minority", etc - have been expertly fielded by Devereaux, who has never actually answered a question.
He is there - and paid handsomely - to deflect criticism of IDS and to confuse anyone who questions him with figures and statistics.
He's worth every penny - his language is careful, he looks and sounds sensible and moderate, and he gets away with it all.

That's why he has been given a nice new gong. He is way too intelligent not to know what IDS is doing to people like me - but he is doing very nicely out of all this, as are the other four I mentioned. He'll retire early, and get any number of directorships.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:27 am

Greetings earthlings. Hope you all had a good Christmas.

Have missed you all, and your posts but we've had a rather difficult time chez YahYah.

1. Our underground drainage pipe to the septic tank blocked Christmas Eve afternoon.
Valiant attempts by my husband, a veteran of blocked pipe plunger-ing revealed, to our horror, stones and earth t'other side of the drainage inspection pit.

My husband's been a hero, working in the last two days in torrential rain, digging out bucket after bucket of ordure soaked clay and stones to find and remove the collapsed sewage pipe, and managed to create a temporary pipe connection.

A builder is coming tomorrow to hopefully do a satisfactory permanent fix, and hopefully not too expensively. The fear of your own ordure backing up is not a pleasant one, but at least we are fortunate compared to many who've been flooded.

2. My laptop died. It stayed dead after trying various fixes, memory reseating, BIOS stuff.
Reluctantly ordered a new one from John Lewis....but today I just idly pressed the start button on the dead one and it is working and I am using it now ! Am loathe to switch it off again.
It's seven and a half years old, we have no reliable local computer repair shop to take it to.

If anyone has any idea what it may be - when I pressed the on/off power switch the screen stayed black, and it issued four bleeps. The power light kept flashing.

Ideally if I can fix this problem myself, I'd rather return the new laptop to John Lewis.
Don't know if after I shut it down it will prove impossible to get back on again.
The period of it not working was 5 days, with one intermittent splutter at life.
Battery, power input all working as the battery is charging and all the programmes, security updates etc are working.

3. Internet connection problems over Christmas - meant my husband couldn't even go online easily via his desktop computer to read up on drainage issues, and after the holiday when I found the laptop dead we couldn't net search for diagnostic advice.

Wishing you all a good New Year - XXXX

nickyinnorfolk · Post by **nickyinnorfolk** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:33 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:The Yorkshire Post absolutely scathing about the inadequacy of Truss and the Tory government's response / actions re flood prevention and defence. And then they turn their withering comment to the honours system and Cameron's abuse of it .... well, well, well.

OpinionYP ‏@OpinionYP 2h2 hours ago Wales, United Kingdom
The Minister out of her depth - today's editorial on #yorkshirefloods, & #honourslist row http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opi ... -1-7649386" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … #yplive #tadcasterbridge

... And Ms Truss also needs to be aware that the extra £280m being made available for Yorkshire’s flood defences is just a drop in the proverbial ocean – her latest utterances make no reference to the decision in 2011 to scrap a £180m scheme in Leeds which might have spared the West Yorkshire city from the worst of this week’s flooding damage. Such cost-cutting has proven to be a false economy.

If Tadcaster’s partially collapsed bridge, a structure built during the Industrial Revolution, won’t convince Ms Truss do act, nothing will. After all, she was among the first Ministers to sign up to George Osborne’s latest budget demands and then cheered loudly when the Chancellor defended his record in the Commons...

... THE KNIGHTHOOD controversially awarded by the Government to Sir Lynton Crosby, the Tory election strategist, threatens to make a mockery of an honours system which was intended to recognise and reward those public-spirited individuals who made a genuine difference to their local communities.

It is even more incongruous when set in the context of a Westminster select committee which concluded three years ago that no one should be honoured for simply ‘doing the day job’ and David Cameron’s complacent response to the floods...

Excellent piece and very interesting coming from a traditionally conservative (small and big c) paper. Glad the dreadful Truss is being found out.

Incidentally, she was making a big deal out of being a 'down to earth Yorkshire lass' (pass the sick bucket) in her conference speech. She spent some of her formative years in Leeds and never went back. She's an MP for a Norfolk constituency but spends most of her time in Greenwich. It's sad that she can be totally complacent about keeping her seat. It's pin a blue rosette on a donkey and it'd win territory. Having said that, North Norfolk was also always Tory till Norman Lamb won (he's slightly preferable).

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:39 am

seeingclearly wrote:The other half of the double act, and stagehands too. Watching those PAC sessions was when crooks and charlatans sprang to mind, along with a few even worse thoughts, time has only increased those feelings, and I still don't understand why we have a system that has no checks on duplicity in public spending. Perhaps there has never been the need before? I distinctly remember how suddenly government funding changed from talking in millions to talking in billions.

I note that unpaid carers feature on the Gs alternative awards list. I'd give them all something better than an honour, their hearts desire, probably, all the ones I know are absolute stars, and we have no real figure to tell us how many there are.

ONS - 2011 Census - unpaid carers snapshot.
"In England and Wales, there are around six million people providing unpaid care for an ill, frail, or disabled family member or friend".

Carers UK - Facts about carers 2014.
"UK total - 6,506,257" and "1.4 million people provide more than 50 hours of unpaid care per week"

It is estimated that the value of unpaid care in the UK is £120 Billion a year.
It is estimated that 400,000 unpaid carers in the UK are themselves disabled.
It is estimated that 700,000 children in the UK are carers.

Being an unpaid carer involves financial costs, health costs - to the carer.

The NHS and what passes for social care in this country would collapse if it wasn't for these wonderful people.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:40 am

It appears that the more self-serving and incompetent you are the higher the honour;a communal gong to all virtual friends for services to still existing in the maelstrom.Order of the FTN.

nickyinnorfolk · Post by **nickyinnorfolk** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:46 am

Interesting historical note re Truss's constituency:

South West Norfolk has been held solidly by Conservatives since 1964 but for twenty years before then, it had been ultra-marginal: Labour first held it from 1929–31, and Sidney Dye won it for Labour in 1945 with a tiny majority of 53, holding it at the 1950 election by 260. He lost it to Denys Bullard in 1951 by 442 votes and won it back in 1955 with a majority of 193. Dye died at the end of 1958, and in the by-election Albert Hilton retained the seat for Labour by a margin of 1,354 votes. In the 1959 general election that soon followed, his majority was cut to 78.

Back then, there were more farm workers living in the area. As farming got more mechanised, people moved away from the area to more urban locations.

Having said that, it's still not a wealthy area - apart from a few random aristos - so why they still vote for Truss is anyone's guess. When she was first up for selection some locals were wearing t-shirts saying 'ET go home'.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:47 am

Greetings yahyah. Good to have you back - don't turn that laptop off!

I really empathise and sympathise with the backed up ordure pipe experience ... the state of our 'septic tank' (we don't actually know what the buried receptacle is so that may be a real euphemism) is an ongoing niggle. A state of living with a lot of unknowns. Someone suggested to us we might ask a farmer to come up and use their slurry equipment to suck some of the contents out to make sure ours has space ... we haven't had the nerve to do that yet.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:50 am

I think it's the Royal College of Music. A fantastic Victorian building in London.

I watched a programme about it, quite a while back.

It was the idea of a very wealthy businessman who gave a huge sum of money and went amongst rich friends and colleagues to raise even more. He mixed with high society, and even managed to get Q. Victoria & Albert[?not sure] to become sponsors or the like.

Needless to say he was hoping for a knighthood.

Then he was involved in a scandal. [Can't remember what it was] The building was completed and opened by . The wealthy businessman was nowhere to be seen. Wasn't mentioned. He might just have welll disappeared off the face of the earth.

And didn't get his knighthood.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:55 am

Hi RR.

We get ours emptied every year by a company called CRES - can let you have the number.
It's about £230. Ours is a very primitive thing, more a cesspit and like you we live in fear of repercussions about it.
The way the pipe has fractured and collapsed is worrying.
May have been like it for years and all the recent weeks of torrential rain just brought the soil and stones down and filled the gap.

Home ownership is often presented as some sort of passport to wealth.
For most of us it is a constant worry re mainentance and a money pit for repairs.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:55 am

I see some comments BTL on the Danczuk sex texting story are suggesting it's a smear job by Corbyn ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... k-you.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vordy · Post by **Vordy** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 10:58 am

yahyah wrote:Greetings earthlings. Hope you all had a good Christmas.

Have missed you all, and your posts but we've had a rather difficult time chez YahYah.

1. Our underground drainage pipe to the septic tank blocked Christmas Eve afternoon.
Valiant attempts by my husband, a veteran of blocked pipe plunger-ing revealed, to our horror, stones and earth t'other side of the drainage inspection pit.

My husband's been a hero, working in the last two days in torrential rain, digging out bucket after bucket of ordure soaked clay and stones to find and remove the collapsed sewage pipe, and managed to create a temporary pipe connection.

A builder is coming tomorrow to hopefully do a satisfactory permanent fix, and hopefully not too expensively. The fear of your own ordure backing up is not a pleasant one, but at least we are fortunate compared to many who've been flooded.

2. My laptop died. It stayed dead after trying various fixes, memory reseating, BIOS stuff.
Reluctantly ordered a new one from John Lewis....but today I just idly pressed the start button on the dead one and it is working and I am using it now ! Am loathe to switch it off again.
It's seven and a half years old, we have no reliable local computer repair shop to take it to.

If anyone has any idea what it may be - when I pressed the on/off power switch the screen stayed black, and it issued four bleeps. The power light kept flashing.

Ideally if I can fix this problem myself, I'd rather return the new laptop to John Lewis.
Don't know if after I shut it down it will prove impossible to get back on again.
The period of it not working was 5 days, with one intermittent splutter at life.
Battery, power input all working as the battery is charging and all the programmes, security updates etc are working.

3. Internet connection problems over Christmas - meant my husband couldn't even go online easily via his desktop computer to read up on drainage issues, and after the holiday when I found the laptop dead we couldn't net search for diagnostic advice.

Wishing you all a good New Year - XXXX

Is it a Dell YaYa.Four beeps is a memory issue if it is.Read Here.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-fo ... t/19348729" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:00 am

Simon Danczuk Is Finished
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:02 am

It's a HP Vordy - but thanks - will look at that as it may help.

HP don't have a good reputation, but to have lasted seven and a half years, often running it all night during the two elections etc - has done pretty well.

Not switching it off will provide a temporary solution at any rate.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:02 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Simon Danczuk Is Finished
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's cheered me up

Post by **refitman** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:04 am

yahyah wrote:Greetings earthlings. Hope you all had a good Christmas.

Have missed you all, and your posts but we've had a rather difficult time chez YahYah.

2. My laptop died. It stayed dead after trying various fixes, memory reseating, BIOS stuff.
Reluctantly ordered a new one from John Lewis....but today I just idly pressed the start button on the dead one and it is working and I am using it now ! Am loathe to switch it off again.
It's seven and a half years old, we have no reliable local computer repair shop to take it to.

If anyone has any idea what it may be - when I pressed the on/off power switch the screen stayed black, and it issued four bleeps. The power light kept flashing.

Ideally if I can fix this problem myself, I'd rather return the new laptop to John Lewis.
Don't know if after I shut it down it will prove impossible to get back on again.
The period of it not working was 5 days, with one intermittent splutter at life.
Battery, power input all working as the battery is charging and all the programmes, security updates etc are working.

4 beeps means either bad memory or graphics card problems (there is a list here: http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), but can depend on manufacturer. You can buy replacement memory but probably not a graphics card for a laptop.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:06 am

yahyah wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Simon Danczuk Is Finished
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That's cheered me up

He's what Mr Ohso calls a sleazebag...

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:12 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Simon Danczuk Is Finished
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow.

If any of that is actually true, he is in deep doo-doo.

I particularly liked - "Rochdale's NOMINALLY Labour MP....."

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:15 am

Have just read the Danzcuk allegations. Anyone surprised ?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:18 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Simon Danczuk Is Finished
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It would be nice to think so.......

Let's not forget, in the interests of natural justice, that it is the Currant Bun reporting this - and their past record in these things urges *some* caution.

Still, what we know for sure about Silly Simon's behaviour is concerning enough.

Oh, and hi there yahyah

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:20 am

yahyah wrote:Have just read the Danzcuk allegations. Anyone surprised ?

No. The behaviour has been getting grosser and grosser. I don't class myself as a prude but I don't think MPs - of whatever political affiliation - should be behaving like that.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:23 am

For those of you in west, mid or south Wales - if you haven't already got them there are thunderstorms, gale force winds and torrential rain heading your way. Another fun day here with two power cuts already. Mr Riots has braved going into town for a few essentials before the new year's shut down. I suppose if I have to have a stinking cold this is as good a time as any to have it - we won't be going anywhere in this.

Sigh of the year. Please let 2016 bring some calmer weather.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:24 am

: CXjJz_qWkAAFfAF.jpg (11.19 KiB) Viewed 11738 times

Distasteful.

Surely when a person is in public office, something like this is a sacking or deselection offence?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:27 am

It's that revolting notion that he's 'horny' so some female should relieve him of his urge. Yukkety yuk.

Some of us would tell him to f off, or to go and have a wank on his own, but for a youngster who may have suffered damage to her sexual boundaries from previous abuse, it may not be easy.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:29 am

I think it has to be left up to his constituency association and local party Ohso. He hasn't actually done anything illegal. It's up to them whether they wish to be represented by someone who seems to think this - along with various other behaviours - is acceptable for an MP.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:29 am

: ScreenShot01373.jpg (38.09 KiB) Viewed 11728 times

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:33 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:I think it has to be left up to his constituency association and local party Ohso. He hasn't actually done anything illegal. It's up to them whether they wish to be represented by someone who seems to think this - along with various other behaviours - is acceptable for an MP.

If those sort of texts were sent to a girl a little younger it could be illegal, as it would be grooming.

The question 'is this allegation a one-off' surely comes next.
If the answer is no, a look at the ages of any other recipients of his alleged sleaze would be in order.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:36 am

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-fe ... -for-a-job" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Two local Labour councillors calling for him to be suspended / have whip withdrawn.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:39 am

yahyah wrote:It's that revolting notion that he's 'horny' so some female should relieve him of his urge. Yukkety yuk.

Some of us would tell him to f off, or to go and have a wank on his own, but for a youngster who may have suffered damage to her sexual boundaries from previous abuse, it may not be easy.

I dunno. A man that age coming on to a seventeen year old in that way is overwhelming. Menacing.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:39 am

yahyah wrote:Have just read the Danzcuk allegations. Anyone surprised ?

Given His work regarding Cyril Smith, probably his only redeeming feature, I was a little taken aback.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:44 am

Presumably if she was 17 then she was still at school.

He should resign and get himself sorted out.

danesclose · Post by **danesclose** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:45 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Simon Danczuk Is Finished
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... ished.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It would be nice to think so.......

Let's not forget, in the interests of natural justice, that it is the Currant Bun reporting this - and their past record in these things urges *some* caution.

Still, what we know for sure about Silly Simon's behaviour is concerning enough.

Oh, and hi there yahyah

As someone pointed out on Twitter, the Sun have had this story for a while. If you'll excuse the pun, they were obviously saving it for a rainy day (floods, Crosby etc.)

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:47 am

TobyLatimer wrote:
yahyah wrote:Have just read the Danzcuk allegations. Anyone surprised ?
Given His work regarding Cyril Smith, probably his only redeeming feature, I was a little taken aback.

Given that lately we have been seeing what a drama queen/publicity hound he is, I hope he didn't see the Cyril Smith revelations as perfect opportunity to raise his profile, rather than a wish to see justice done.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Thu 31 Dec, 2015 11:49 am

Thinking of campaigning for a more equitable distributions of birthdays,just got Xmas out of the way and now 4 birthdays ,in the first week of January ,do they think I am made of ~~pies~~ money.