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That's ridiculous. Everyone knows dogs are natural Liberals.
No Rosemary, dogs are truly socialist, they are always looking for a man with a pie to share.
Seriously, the crisis of immigration. Is it pay back time for interference in the Middle East? Is it only me that thinks some, (not all by any means) are being organised to ruin economies. It took two incidents to cripple Tunisia's holiday trade. The Turks are shipping as many as possible to Greece. The bomb in Thailand, Not to mention the millions cost to Britain in insurance claims and transport companies' losses from the Calais situation. There are many ways to kill a cat and this seems one of them to me.
I think Matt is having altogether too much fun :-)
Jim wrote: "Will wrote: "I am presently waiting to see if my vote for JC will be disallowed -as I left the party over the decision to go to war in Iraq, I may be considered a dangerous lefty enterist..."But ..."
Well, I'm to the left of JC, who's actually very moderate. I'd see a higher top rate of tax than he wants (only 5o% on the top slice). Cooper and kendall transcend traditional definitions by having no principles other than their careers... what do you know about Burnham that I don't?
Immigration is simply a fact of life, yet people seem to view whatever the current situation is as some kind of unforeseen crisis that has no precedence.Western economies are far too strong for it to make any meaningful impact - it's a humanitarian crisis rather than a financial one.
It's politically problematic as well.
Rosemary (The Nosemanny) wrote: "That's ridiculous. Everyone knows dogs are natural Liberals."No, Dogs are Conservatives: all pies should only belong to them, and never be shared
Lynne, I wouldn't jump to disagree with you. The fundamental point of terrorism is to disrupt the normal operation of a society, so that the authorities become so authoritarian and draconian that they cause major discontent leading to political change. (Marcuse) Violence is only one method to move on that goal, although historically it has been preferred because it is cheap.
Will wrote: "Lynne, I wouldn't jump to disagree with you. The fundamental point of terrorism is to disrupt the normal operation of a society, so that the authorities become so authoritarian and draconian that ..."Just to agree with what Will has just said.
From the wiki (so it must be right) a proposed 1988 definition
"A proposed academic consensus definition: "Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators."
It's difficult to see exactly where it shifts from being what we could call 'bullying' and it may be a 'sub-set' of bullying
I suspect it is so popular because it's cheap, comparatively easy, and appeals to a small subset of any political movement who major on hate.
It's one reason why I get nervous when I see members of one political group trying to demonise, or even worse, dehumanise their opponents.
Some of the vitriol being spewed out by so 'liberals' or 'extreme Democrats' in the US at the moment is not healthy
If they were to get a Republican president and a republican congress then I suspect the hatred would bubble up into violence in some cases
Will wrote: "what do you know about Burnham that I don't? ..."I get the impression he's angling to be Corbyn's deputy :-)
Jim wrote: "Will wrote: "what do you know about Burnham that I don't? ..."I get the impression he's angling to be Corbyn's deputy :-)"
That's a seperate election. And incidentally, after advising one of Tom Watson's campaign team that i had voted for their man, I actually got an email saying thank you that appeared to be from Watson himself
Will wrote: "That's a seperate election. And incidentally, after advising one of Tom Watson's campaign team that i had voted for their man, I actually got an email saying thank you that appeared to be from Watson himself ..."It's going to be interesting to watch as things unfold. I'm wondering if Corbyn and Watson have the integrity of Michael Foot and Denis Healey
What is awe inspiring is to look back at people like them and realise the life experience they had by the time they got to the top
Financial markets go BOOM!It's like 2007 all over again.
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Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)
(last edited Aug 24, 2015 02:12AM)
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Will wrote: "And incidentally, after advising one of Tom Watson's campaign team that i had voted for their man, I actually got an email saying thank you that appeared to be from Watson himself "I cannot help but aliken the email to the lyrics of When the Tigers Broke Free, by Pink Floyd:
And kind old King George sent Mother a note
When he heard that father was gone
It was, I recall in the form of a scroll
With gold leaf and all
And I found it one day
In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away
And my eyes still grow damp to remember
His Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp
I really should put my cynical head away.
Not when you quote one of my fave songs, Geoff...(You did note I wasn't entirely convinced myself of the authenticity, didn't you?)
Michael Cargill wrote: "Financial markets go BOOM!It's like 2007 all over again."
I read something about China this morning. What else have you heard?
Will wrote: "Not when you quote one of my fave songs, Geoff...(You did note I wasn't entirely convinced myself of the authenticity, didn't you?)"
Oh yes, I read the doubts, Will.
Michael Cargill wrote: "Financial markets go BOOM!It's like 2007 all over again."
As predicted in this very column, in fact. This is going to get very nasty indeed.
Free market capitalism is about to get a very nasty shock. I'm reading complaints that China's government is not in control of its economy: but that's sort of the point of free market/Friedman economic structures, isn't it?Investments can go down as well as up....
Is Corbyn getting the blame for China as well? :)
What is it about western religions that makes them like this? ISIS desecrate just about anything that is historical, a previous caliph burned the great library at Alexandria, christians have burned and desecrated pagan shrines and muslim mosques across europe and then turned on the jews as well...
It really hurts that I was about three weeks away from visiting Syria when it all kicked off. Our best friends were working there at the time. They were evacuated just before our spring holidays.I'm really quite devastated.
Will wrote: "What is it about western religions that makes them like this?"it's not Western Religions, it's religions.
I agree, Geoff.We could do without them, I reckon.
Will wrote: "What is it about western religions that makes them like this? ISIS desecrate just about anything that is historical, a previous caliph burned the great library at Alexandria, christians have burne..."Hindus razed the Ayodhya mosque and a lot of others. Buddhist monks have been killing people in other religions http://world.time.com/2013/06/20/extr...
It's not religions. It's people with strong beliefs.
Do we want people not to believe in anything?
Ironically the big reason for supporting Jeremy Corbyn is that 'he believes in something and the others don't, they just believe in their careers'
Certainly he's a long way from Blairite intensely relaxed attitude.
I know you have a strong belief, Jim, but I don't believe i'd ever see you burning a copy of The Dhammapada, or razing an ancient temple to the ground.It's the religious organisations I'm inclined to think, rather than the people with strong beliefs
I don't think they all have strong beliefs. I think there's one or two fanatics in positions of power who manipulate weaker followers to do their dirty work.
Will wrote: "That's a seperate election. And incidentally, after advising one of Tom Watson's campaign team that i had voted for their man, I actually got an email saying thank you that appeared to be from Watson himself"At some recent election or other Tom Watson came canvassing to our house.
I pretended to be out. Can't stand the bloke.
Will wrote: "I know you have a strong belief, Jim, but I don't believe i'd ever see you burning a copy of The Dhammapada, or razing an ancient temple to the ground.It's the religious organisations I'm incline..."
but I don't believe in an organisation, and as many Christians will tell you, they don't believe in a religion, they believe in a person.
People use religions, politics, ideology, football or whatever to built their powerbase and to take over.
It's a bit like 'money is the root of all evil'. Actually it's 'The love of money is the root of all evil.' But most people remember the shorter version because it foists the blame onto money rather than accepting that the fault lies in themselves.
So it's far easier to blame religion than accept that it's people seeking power.
Will wrote: "Not when you quote one of my fave songs, Geoff...(You did note I wasn't entirely convinced myself of the authenticity, didn't you?)"
If you like that song Will, I'm sure you'll know or appreciate this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sYvd...
I didn't know it Geoff, but it is brilliant. I'll have to track that down.
It is on his solo album, Building the Perfect Beast, which in my opinion is his best solo album. Oddly that track was on the CD and cassette but not the LP. Didn't get to hear it until I bought the CD and was blown away by it.
Yes, I saw that pointed out in the comments below the Youtube track.
Meanwhile in the election, the hysteria over 'entryism' continues:Some numbers to cogitate on.
400,000 new members/registered to vote since the general election.
Edit: Exclusions now at 3000.
60000 of those joined up in the first few weeks after the General Election, and before the £3 to vote option became available.
200000 the number of party members who resigned during the Blair period, principally (it is estimated) over Iraq: an unknown percentage of these will be in the 400K above. I suspect it is a large percentage.
1200 The number of applicants refused or ejected on examination so far.
On these numbers, entryism seems a foolish assertion, don't you think?
Edit: Exclusions now at about 3000.
60,000 applications were refused as the applicant's identities could not be verified from the electoral roll, or wee duplicate entries. It is unclear if these were included in the 400K figure or not, although there is a suggestion that they were.
Geoff (G. Robbins) (The noisy passionfruit) wrote: "It is on his solo album, Building the Perfect Beast, which in my opinion is his best solo album. Oddly that track was on the CD and cassette but not the LP. Didn't get to hear it until I bought t..."Good song that. I hadn't heard it before and yet it felt strangely familiar. I was half convinced that I'd heard a Bruce Springsteen version.
The problem with this whole thing is that Harriet Harman and her advisors are constantly looking over their shoulders, desperately trying to avoid a judicial review.All this double guessing is having the effect of making the whole thing appear farcical and out of control. Furthermore, their management of the media has been lamentable.
There appear to be no feet left to shoot themselves in. Even if the rest of the campaign carries on without further revelations there will be ongoing rumbles about whether this contender or that would have won under the old system, or a better system.
This morning, the Party could not even keep secret the location of the meeting with the Candidates to discuss the position, leading to a media scrum outside the building.Farcical doesn't even touch it, Geoff.
For me, the photo of the campaign was that of Andy Burnham the other day: onstage in a white shirt, the lighting made it look as if the whole of his back was swathed in blood...
Which muppet set up the system in the first place?You offer voting rights to everybody and then discover everybody has taken you up on it, you can hardly throw a hissy fit that the 'wrong sort of people' have got involved.
Now if I'm right, Harriet Harman introduced it this May. The conservatives have had 'open primaries' in some seats to select new candidates since 2009. By open primary every registered voter in the constituency can vote.
At the time when I first heard this being announced for party leader, I thought that it wasn't a bad idea. It was a logical step forward from the idea of open primaries, and given the way the labour party had taken a serious kicking, could well put them back in touch with the electorate. (Not their membership, but the electorate.)
But half way through the process they've all got cold feet in case 'the wrong sort' of people vote. Well the conservative party hasn't suffered from the 'wrong sort of people' voting for their candidates. About the only one who lost a seat they should have held was in Scotland
I think one problem with the process is the candidates. If I was offered a free vote, frankly there's nobody I could cast it for. There is nobody of any calibre, nobody who you feel could unite the country behind them and move us forward.
Not being nasty to Jeremy Corbyn here, who is certainly the pick of the crop, but he cannot even unite the labour party behind him, indeed he's spent his political career semi-detached from it, so his chance of uniting the country isn't good.
It's a pity that not only is Alan Johnson not standing but there aren't more people of his calibre in the party :-(
Isn't it the brainchild of Ed Miliband who introduced it after the previous system (which saw him elected) received so much adverse comment?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/n...The candidates' pitches.
Is it me, or does Kendall clearly deserve the 'Tory-lite' tag?
Corbyn's attitude on immigration isn't going to win back to Labour the voters who left them for UKIP
The US gun lobby are going to be busy for another week or so. Two reporters shot dead live on air.You don't actually see anything, just lots of screaming, followed by a look of utter shock on the face of the news reader in the studio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...
Jim wrote: "Which muppet set up the system in the first place?You offer voting rights to everybody and then discover everybody has taken you up on it, you can hardly throw a hissy fit that the 'wrong sort of...
Not being nasty to Jeremy Corbyn here, who is certainly the pick of the crop, but he cannot even unite the labour party behind him, indeed he's spent his political career semi-detached from it, so his chance of uniting the country isn't good.
It's a pity that not only is Alan Johnson not standing but there aren't more people of his calibre in the party :-( "
Hang on a minute Jim, are you saying Cameron has united the country?
I think there is a general lack of calibre among all Party Front Benches. This is partly because politics isn't terribly well paid compared to top jobs in industry and finance so the best minds go there. It's counter-intuitive, but suggests we should actually pay our MPs a lot more. We get the quality of politicians we're prepared to pay for; those egoists with private wealth or Trade Union funded candidates
Marc wrote: "Hang on a minute Jim, are you saying Cameron has united the country?I think there is a general lack of calibre among all Party Front Benches. This is partly because politics isn't terribly well paid compared to top jobs in industry and finance so the best minds go there. It's counter-intuitive, but suggests we should actually pay our MPs a lot more. We get the quality of politicians we're prepared to pay for; those egoists with private wealth or Trade Union funded candidates ..."
No, but there again he's not standing in this election :-)
I'm purely looking at the labour candidates offered.
I agree with the calibre of front benches.
But I'd suggest another route, recognise that it isn't a full time job at most levels and go back to MPs having another job. But make sure that the other job is not in the Westminster bubble. That way they'd spend time talking and working with people who are not in politics
but then we'd be dominated by flipping lawyers as until quite recently Parliament was
Whatever you say about lawyers, they get to meet a very wide variety of people, whether doing criminal or civil work.But we've got to do something to break down the westminster bubble
Jim for a bunch of lawyers, they sure drafted some terrible legislation that people drove a bus through. Section 28 being a case in point. Unenforceable, impossible to define 'promotion of homosexuality'
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/
I think he's really enjoying himself.