FlyTheNest

Morning all.

morning. Yippee, it's stopped raining.

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Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."

Morning both - and any lurkers.

This is yet another failure of the Conservative's privatisation and de regulation programme .... another bad policy that has impacted the poorest worst ... and, of course, London has had entirely different treatment and has fared much better as a result.



I'm expecting some smartarses BTL to say that if the poor can afford taxis it shows they aren't really poor ....

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Working on the wild side.

Morning all
Well this looks good - thank you for getting it together - hugs
Cold wet and miserable here today - and my birthday.
Off to read the papers, catch ya laters

Happy Birthday AAW (you should have had it on Sunday, it was nice and sunny then )

Happy Birthday AAW !


Site looks good.

Dan's mentioned elsewhere he'll be tweaking the display a bit, is it possible to tone down the colour differences between different user posts ?
My middle aged eyes find it easier to read if the background colour is consistent.
No worries if it can't be changed, need new specs anyway.

Happy Birthday AAW. May you stay warm, dry and happy all day (and maybe not angry for a while?).

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Working on the wild side.

Happy Birthday AAW! Is it okay to dispense with the "Russian beauty hookup" old site now for the daily politics?
I imagine the cybernats will be out in force today. Hmm.

Hi yahyah. I will be hunting for a different site theme, we're using this one at the moment because the formatting is almost the same as the old place. Will keep your request in mind.

Seems stable on EE, not sure it works from Virgin Media yet.

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Release the Guardvarks.

From experience, I wouldn't expect anything less from VM

That's harsh, best ISP I ever used.

Which isn't saying much, but my 60 Mbps download speed mostly works and they don't complain about usage.

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Release the Guardvarks.

Did anyone watch the debate last night.

Only saw about 15 minutes, switched off because it was raising my blood pressure before bedtime, not a good idea.

Salmond came across, in the parts I saw, as an odious little creature IMHO.
Blustering, refusing to look at Darling and staring doe eyed at the viewers.

The biggest laugh was when they switched to taking questions from the audience, and he walked out from lounging on his lectern and suddenly became saccharine sweet and acted pretending to be engaged with the questioner about Trident. Yuk.
How can such a transparently non-tranparent man be the hero of so many ?

Darling was understandably cross and rattled, you'd have had to have been a robot not to react to Salmond's dirty tricks. But he didn't come across well.

The bad temper, the barking across each other, the blatant poor acting performance, didn't reflect well on politics generally.
If these debates end up like an exchange on Cif or Twitter [but without the sweariness] not sure that helps democracy.


On the site move, I use John Lewis broadband and no problems accessing the site this morning.

Ephemerid's having trouble registering here.


She's asked for her post from old site to be posted here, so here it is.


''Morning to you and morning to all.

This little thing is worth checking out - jodatu.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/dwp-apologies-for-the-delay

In it, an ex-DWP employee explains what is happening to people like me. Viz - the old systems for ESA and JSA are being run down and not maintained; this results in claims having to be processed manually.
Established claims on the system are developing glitches which cannot be rectified, and the inevitable result is delays in payments. Calling the helpline is useless as the operator is not able to access the claim online so cannot explain what is happening - I have an established claim, but have had no ESA for two months.

Knowing that I am not alone and my situation is not down to a one-off cock-up (which has also happened) is no consolation.
I am fortunate in that I have support while I wait - not everyone is so lucky.
It would appear that new (and established claims which develop problems) are being dealt with clerically - this has a knock-on effect on other issues which DWP staff should be working on. More delays.

I've Tweeted the link to my few followers - could FTN do one too, please? I have also sent the link to various MPs and others.
It looks like IDS, in his determination to plough on with UC, has allowed the existing IT to be run down in favour of concentrating resources on the new system - a strategy which is causing yet more hardship for the sick and unemployed.

There is no way staff can keep up with large numbers of claims being made clerical - this is a situation which can only get worse unless some urgent action is taken. To allow this to happen on top of all the existing delays and problems is either stupidity driven by ministers' ignorance of how their system works, or a deliberate ploy to cut more people out of payment.

I daresay I'll get the money eventually (by the end of this week, it will be over £1,000 if it isn't sorted) but I am very angry that someone else has to support me for the duration - and furiously angry that people not as fortunate as I am are in a similar situation with no alternative support.''

Thanks for the birthday wish's, will have a quiet day not doing much at all.
Nice to see most people have got here, and that we have 24 guests with us - waves to guests, please pop in and say "hi"

Okay the YouGov 3 is starting to wind me up. Firstly, ask who is prime ministerial, second, ask which is most in touch and finally who is going to be better at running the economy for the next five years.

Oh to not have a question on "benefits", immigration and the economy.

Morning all.

A rainy day again. Feels more like late October than August recently.

Happy birthday to AAW - hope you have a good 'un.

My day was brightened by the news that the Dylan Bootleg series is bringing out a 6-CD version of The Basement Tapes.

And I notice that Boris got a slap-down from an ex-anti terrorism chief. Keep it up Boris - the more idiotic stuff you keep coming out with will convince more people you're too dangerous to have as party leader never mind as PM.

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

Happy Birthday AAW. Have a good one. *Hugs*

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Site is looking better this morning, so thanks to Dan and everyone else who made it happen. *Hugs* to all.

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

We have the original (unopened and un-played) bootleg set on vinyl
Thanks for BD wishes

Thank you hugs

Didn't watch it Yahyah. Sounds like I had the right idea.

As I said late last night I've just come back from Scotland. Not much to say (and it's only anecdotal anyway), but the leaflets and posters for the 'yes' campaign seem far more in evidence (and bigger) than the 'no' ones. The no ones seem to have mostly been printed on A5 and tacked to street lights. The yes ones are larger, more numerous and there were some large 'YES' signs in people's gardens etc. The only thing the 'no' campaigners had that looked as though they'd made any effort were banners saying 'Proud to be Scot, delighted to be united.'

Does anyone know the latest voting intentions? Which is ahead, yes or no?

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Hi there everybody

To answer the question just asked - "no" have been ahead throughout, though by varying margins.

The "quickie" survey last night gave a big Salmond "win" in the debate - but also claimed it had made no difference to referendum VI.

Looks at the moment as if some things are not working, i.e. profiles, control panel. Getting the following message.

SQL ERROR [ mysqli ]

Got error 28 from storage engine [1030]

No idea what it means being computer illiterate.

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Many Happy Returns to AAW

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Here's one for Tubby (our resident HS2 supporter)

http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/8694/rail-links-route-offers-high-return-on-investment

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Thanks Anatoly.

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Good for them. Hopefully more and more people will become aware of what's happening.



http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/8711/residents-struggling-to-see-gps

Unfortunately, this second story has no context and doesn't tell us if this situation has become worse or what the figures used to be. say a few years ago, or even the year before.

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Smart has the plans, but stupid has the stories.

Is anyone aware of statistics of Scottish referendum polling cross referenced by 2010 GE voting?

Thank you

I'm getting this as well

I liked this headline from the Daily Recordthough I haven't read the article.

Morning All.

Just managed to register after a few problems - thanks to Dan for fixing them. Took the opportunity to change username to one I've been using elsewhere.

I was surprised how AD seemed to lack confidence in last night's shouting match. The BBC do not get any credit for their management of the so-called debate! I thought Salmond came over like a belligerent drunk, asking questions then shouting over the answers. Not, I think, a good advert for Scotland, nor does it bode well if he's involved in independence negotiations.

He seems determined to hide the differences between a currency union (not on the table), using the pound unilaterally (and losing the financial industry), sharing the BoE (which is not an asset to share) and sharing any assets and liabilities held by the BoE.

I've seen a few 'yes' posters (but not many). I suspect that people will not display 'no' posters, given the abuse that prominent pro-union supporters have received.

If the Telegraph (sorry) is correct there is some business support for the Union in the pipeline.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11049180/Scottish-business-leaders-prepare-to-unite-against-independence.html

I'm coming to the conclusion that there is a damn good chance Scotland will vote yes. I wouldnt have said that 6 months ago.

Who were you before the name change?

I think you might be right - sad to say. (well I find it sad)

Hi everybody. Wonderful to be ad free.

Thank you to all who have worked on making this happen, it's made my day!

Happy birthday, AAW.

In response to Ephemerids post. Sometimes it really does feel as though theres an effort to trash everything beyond repair. I hope anyone who gets caught in this kind of nightmare can at least speak to someone who has some human empathy with their situation, though I doubt it is going to work that way. It'll be some very badly paid worker who hasn't got a clue, in all probability. Why is no-one calling them to task for what is happening? In other times this would be when an election would have been called, when things had fallen apart so badly that a government was no longer considered competent enough to be governing.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the next audience with Her Maj.

"I'm terribly sorry your majesty but I appear to have lost Scotland"
"Well that was very careless of you Mr Cameron. I think a spell in the tower might be in order for you"

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If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.

The latest Populus poll is out - Labour lead unchanged but UKIP gains: Lab 38 Con 32 UKIP 14 LibDem 8.

The more surveys like this in the run up to the referendum, the less likely a "yes" vote.......

Thanks for BD wishes
Agree that now would /should be the time for a GE, and I wish it could have happened before the Scottish referendum.
Flippin 5 year fixed term - another thing to thank the LibDems for

Not with Rachel Reeves doing her tougher than IDS act.
Not with Tristrum Hunt doing his impression of Twigg.
Not with a trident supporting labour party.

Labour is part of the problem, had they actually been a socialist party then maybe it would be different, but this campaign will damage Labour considerably over the border. Darling blustering last night showed how little difference between the parties there was, and the outright lie about privatisation of the NHS not starting under Labour will further erode trust.

On the other hand, the first negotiating meeting might go:

Dave: "Morning, I'm the posh boy Tory toff you referred to. What do you want?"
Salmond: "I have a mandate for a currency union."
Ossie: "No chance."
Salmond: "We won't accept any of the UK liabilities."
Dave: "Fine, we've got all the assets. Now push off, there's a good chap. I've an election to fight."

Curiously, only the You-Gov polls seem to see any significant narrowing of the gap in favour of 'yes'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/poll-tracker

Well, W Lothian is 'up North' and I'm not Alex Salmond.

Their methodology has been altered in favour of "yes" recently.

Well, I can only see Trident of those three making any difference come Sept 18 (and there are efforts within Labour to move to a more nuanced position there) Hunt is irrelevant as Scotland has its own education system - and of course did even at the height of unionism - and polls reveal that Scots are almost as keen on "scrounger bashing" as the perfidious "Tory" English (they have moved to a more Euro-sceptic position as well, the election of a UKIP MEP there didn't come as a complete surprise to those with an ear to the ground)

Nope, if Scots think there will be a change of government next year they are more likely to vote "no".

Hence the attempts of Salmond to scare them that the opposite is happening.

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We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop

Anatoly, as a pro union non Englishman, I am stunned at the anglocentric London press and their coverage. It's not Salmond driving this it is the impact of corruption in Westminster which Labour is a part of.

Darling paid thousands by NHS privatisation firm. Says it all about Labour.

http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/7709-alistair-darling-paid-thousands-by-nhs-privatisation-company