- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Next time it’ll be 100,000: UK and EU cities see day of co-ordinated anti-Islamic rallies
quote:UK PEGIDA has warned there will be "100,000 Britons marching on the streets against Islam" by the end of the year after a day of sometimes violent anti-Islamic migrant protests were staged across Europe.
In Birmingham about 250 supporters of pan-European anti-immigration group PEGIDA faced about 60 pro-refugee demonstrators.
PEGIDA supporters carried placards with slogans including ‘Rape Culture is being Imported’ and ‘We will not stay silent as women are raped’.
The far-right group even claimed that 100,000 Britons will be marching alongside them "by the end of the year".
PEGIDA leader Paul Weston said: "The next meeting we have is going to be double or treble the numbers.
"By the end of this year, and I'm been quite serious, I want to see 100,000 decent people on the street".
Police in Birmingham were also forced to defend the number of officers deployed to the scene in Birmingham, with some protestors calling the response an "overreaction".
A 39-year-old man was arrested at the rally for a public order offence.
The mile-long "silent march" in Birmingham was pushed out into the outskirts amid the heavy police deployment.
The event was the first to be organised by Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League.
Organisers said the protest would be a “peaceful, silent demonstration” to symbolise “the way the British people have been silenced and forbidden by political correctness from discussing critically important national issues like immigration and the rising influence of radical Islam”.
Tommy Robinson, now part of Pegida’s UK chapter, said: "The growing influence Islam has on society is not good for society.
“The more Islam the less freedom, that's a reality."
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2016 17:46
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2024 13:27
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
That's correct, not 50k immigrants; 50k refugees.
Even if he'd done nothing else, this campaign to conflate "refugee/asylum seeker" with "illegal immigrant coming to tek ur jerb" would put Cameron firmly on my poo poo list.
Blair and Blunkett already did that to the term "asylum seeker". Cameron has just repeated their rhetoric but with the word "refugee".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L6U0ZQE32E
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2016 19:11
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Doctors' strike turnout much lower than last time, says Jeremy Hunt
quote:Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, has claimed that turnout for the junior doctors’ strike is lower than for last month’s industrial action, with 43% turning up for work, as Downing Street indicated that the government was ready to impose a new contract.
Hunt said pay rates on Saturdays were the one outstanding issue in the dispute that has triggered two strikes. He denied that the government had rejected a “cost-neutral” offer from the British Medical Association that would have resulted in doctors’ basic pay rising by about half the 11% offered – in return for Saturday not being treated as a normal working day.
“There has been no rejection of any proposals and plans that would deal with this weekend effect that is of such concern to patients and the public,” he told BBC News. He went on to describe the industrial action as “very damaging”, but said the turnout was slightly lower than before.
NHS England confirmed that the 43% figure included doctors who had never intended to strike, such as those working in emergency care. It said 43% of junior doctors – out of a possible 26,000 working on a typical day – had reported for duty on the day shift.
Combining junior doctors, other doctors and consultants, the data suggested 72% of the total workforce were in work, it said.
Hunt said he hoped there would be no need for him to impose the new contract: “It doesn’t need to get to that. And I really hope it doesn’t get to that. In the end we do have to have resolution on this, as lots of people inside the NHS are beginning to say. But the door is open for discussions.”
However, a No 10 source indicated the government was still ready to impose the junior doctors contract if no agreement could be reached, saying: “We think it is a very reasonable deal ... As we’ve said all the way along, we are not going to remove that option from the table and give a veto to the BMA. We’ve certainly gone the extra mile in trying to get a deal and are very disappointed there is a further strike today.”
Earlier, Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, the umbrella group for NHS trusts, voiced similar sentiment, saying: “If the BMA won’t accept a fair and reasonable offer, then, yes, it is legitimate and sensible for the secretary of state to consider imposition.”
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2016 18:38
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCem9EZb-YA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxH-t-4KbY
The real surprise isn't that Labour hasn't backed the strike, it's that they are not publicly condemning it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2016 09:57
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
How on earth can 24% of Britain think the media is "too left wing" on immigration? Do these people want machine guns on the border?
Yes.
https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/694482097206091777
|
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2016 17:13
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Jeremy Corbyn set to condemn Cameron’s EU benefit brake: Labour leader will argue that discriminating against workers from eastern Europe is unfair
quote:Jeremy Corbyn is expected to attack David Cameron’s negotiations of an “emergency brake” on benefits for new migrants as potentially discriminatory, and make a positive case for European migration ahead of the crunch summit on Britain’s EU membership this week.
Despite serious concerns among some of the shadow cabinet, it seems the Labour leader is determined to present an “alternative argument” that discriminating against workers from east European states is unfair and will do nothing to reduce migration levels.
It is part of a series of potentially contentious moves by Corbyn in the coming months designed to leave his political stamp on the party, including a new “Labour fiscal credibility rule”, under which the party would “guarantee that all cuts announced for this parliament could be reversed in full”.
Corbyn is planning to make his intervention on EU renegotiation during a visit to Brussels before the summit of member states on Thursday and Friday, where the prime minister will seek agreement on his renegotiation, including the idea of a four-year block on new migrants within the EU receiving in-work benefits.
The Labour leader will suggest that Cameron has been “playing at the edges” in his renegotiation, according to sources close to Corbyn, and will suggest a crackdown on the undercutting of wages by unscrupulous agencies paying eastern European workers below the minimum wage for jobs in the UK should have been a priority.
A high-level party source said there was a strong case for the alternative position to Cameron to be voiced by Corbyn, although it is understood that the speech is yet to be finalised.
It would be a high-risk manoeuvre which senior shadow cabinet ministers fear could allow the Tories and Ukip ammunition in vulnerable seats with which they would seek to portray Labour as out of touch on immigration.
It would also enrage many within the cross-party Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, which is backing the prime minister’s renegotiation, including the efforts to cut EU migration. An open letter signed by five big Labour beasts, former leader Lord (Neil) Kinnock, Margaret Beckett, Hilary Benn, David Blunkett and Jack Straw, says: “The conclusion of the current renegotiation will hopefully strengthen this relationship as we make the progressive case for Britain in Europe.”
I'm not sure this is going to be a vote winner…
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2016 10:21
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
UN has to remind the UK that it shouldn't taser children
You can thank New Labour for introducing that.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/nov/24/police-taser
quote:Human rights campaigners and Britain's largest police force have expressed doubts over plans to make 10,000 Taser stun guns available to officers across England and Wales.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today announced that £8m would be made available to increase the supply of Tasers and to train 30,000 officers to use them.
But Amnesty International claims the 50,000-volt guns have been responsible for 320 deaths in the US, and the Metropolitan Police Authority said their use by non-specialist officers could damage public confidence.
Smith's decision follows year-long trials of Tasers by frontline officers in 10 police forces. The guns, only deployed in the UK by specialist firearms officers, deliver a powerful electric shock that temporarily incapacitates targets and causes them to "freeze" or fall to the ground.
Oliver Sprague, an arms expert at Amnesty International UK, said: "We don't oppose the use of Tasers as long as it's by a limited number of highly-trained specialist officers, responding to genuinely life-threatening or very dangerous situations.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/johann-hari-tasers-are-an-outrage-we-must-resist-1207401.html
quote:This did not happen in Egypt or Saudi Arabia or any other country notorious for using electro-shock weapons. It happened in north London and, if the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has her way, it will be coming soon to a street near you. In Britain there are 3,000 police officers trained to use Tasers as part of specialised armed response units, but Smith has fired a jolt forward. She wants there to be 30,000 Taser-carrying officers, authorised to use them against unarmed citizens, including children. These "stun-guns" fire small metal darts into your skin, and through the trailing wires run an agonising electric current through your body.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2016 10:55
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Are there figures on how many children have been tasered by police in the UK? The quoted article just mentions a 38% increase in their being aimed at children. I feel like it shouldn't be something that is allowed even in theory, but I'd be interested to know if it's a power that has actually seen much use, and under what circumstances.
It seems to me for instance that if you are unable to deal with an unarmed 13 year old without resorting to 50,000V you should not be a police officer. If it's a 17yo with a knife, then maybe things are a little different, although it still seems rather dubious.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31608320
quote:More than 400 children have had tasers drawn on them by police in England and Wales in 2013, figures obtained by the BBC show.
The Home Office Taser database, seen by BBC Radio 5 live, shows a 38% increase on 2012 in the number of children who had a taser aimed at them. Tasers were fired 37 times at 10 to 17-year-olds.
The figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show the youngest person to have a Taser aimed at them was 11, while the youngest person fired on was 14.
dispatch_async fucked around with this message at 11:32 on Feb 15, 2016
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2016 11:29
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Stephen Fry 'quits' Twitter over Bafta jibe
quote:Bafta show host Stephen Fry appears to have deleted his Twitter profile in the wake of his controversial comments during Sunday night's show.
Fry faced strong criticism online for comparing costume designer Jenny Beavan to a "bag lady" when she picked up her Bafta for Mad Max. Twitter users demanded Fry apologise for his comments over her clothes. But Fry, a prolific Twitter user, said online afterwards Beavan was "a dear friend" who had "got" the joke.
The comedian and broadcaster underlined the point by posting a photo of the pair at the Bafta after-party. He wrote: "Jenny Baglady Beavan and Stephen Outrageous Misogynist Swine Fry at the after party."
But on Monday morning, Fry appeared to have removed himself from the site.
Fry has been presenting the show for 11 years and audiences have become used to his cutting wit in the course of his role, often involving risque quips about many of the stars involved.
Beavan, who won the Bafta for Best Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road, came onto the stage at London's Royal Opera House wearing a black leather jacket, white t-shirt and dark trousers.
After her acceptance speech and she had left the stage, Fry said: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards dressed like a bag lady."
The joke however was not well-received and Twitter was soon alight with angry reaction and demands that Fry apologise.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2016 14:46
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
This seems to all be about student politics, unions and debating societies. I don't see anything about lectures.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2016 00:49
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
How do you change the way parliament works without being in in there?
36 barrels of gunpowder
E: damnit
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2016 10:10
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35609968
quote:The BBC understands one of Mr Cameron's closest cabinet allies Michael Gove will campaign for Britain to leave the EU when the referendum is called.
There has been increasing speculation in recent days that Mr Gove would argue for Out. He has, this week, discussed that with Boris Johnson, who is yet to make up his mind which side to back.
There has been no official confirmation from Mr Gove, the justice secretary, or from Number 10.
But BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg said it seems the campaign to leave the EU had secured, in Mr Gove, a big Conservative cabinet name.
His decision will be seen as a coup for those campaigning for exit, and a blow for the prime minister, she added, because although not necessarily a well-known figure among the public he has for years been a close ally of Mr Cameron, and a well-respected, fellow Conservative moderniser.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2016 19:49
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/feb/21/cambridge-colleges-bronze-cockerel-must-go-back-to-nigeria-students-say
quote:Students at a Cambridge University college have voted that a bronze cockerel that stands in its hall should be repatriated to Africa, from where it was looted in the 19th century.
Firing the opening shots in a campaign that echoes a drive by Oxford students to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the Jesus College student union (JCSU) has passed a motion saying that the sculpture should be handed over to Nigeria in a repatriation ceremony.
The cockerel – known properly as “okukor”, according to the students – was among hundreds of artworks taken from the Benin empire, now part of modern-day Nigeria, after a punitive British naval expedition in 1897 that brought the empire to an end. In the same way that Greece has pursued the return of the Parthenon marbles, Nigeria has repeatedly called for all the Benin bronzes – which it says are part of its cultural heritage – to be repatriated.
[…]
As well as looting art, the British killed thousands and set the city of Benin ablaze during the 1897 expedition, which led to the annexation of the kingdom. The mission was intended to avenge the deaths of nine officers during a previous trade mission to Benin.
The British were said to be astonished that a civilisation they considered primitive could be responsible for the Benin bronzes. Most of the bronzes in the UK are housed in the British Museum, although some were sold in the 1950s and 60s.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2016 19:40
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Ukip broadcast cleared after complaints of racism and Islamophobia
quote:Ofcom has dismissed complaints that a Ukip party political broadcast was racist and Islamophobic – but admitted some viewers would have found it offensive.
The broadcasting regulator assessed 40 complaints about Ukip’s four-minute party political broadcast, which urged people to vote to exit the European Union because Turkey could join.
The PPB, which aired on ITV and the BBC in early February, highlighted Turkey’s Muslim population and claimed that up to 15 million Turkish citizens could migrate.
“Having considered several complaints about this UKIP party political broadcast, we won’t be taking the matter forward for investigation,” said a spokeswoman for Ofcom. “We found this broadcast was capable of causing offence but this was justified by its context as political speech, in which freedom of expression is very important.”
One of the complaints to Ofcom came from the Lib Dems, who accused Nigel Farage’s party of inciting racial and religious hatred as well as broadcasting factual inaccuracies.
Ofcom assessed the complaints but decided that they did not raise issues warranting moving to a full investigation under the broadcasting code.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnrFddSJWsk
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2016 13:50
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
TTIP deal poses 'real and serious risk' to NHS, says leading QC
quote:The controversial transatlantic trade deal set to be agreed this year would mean that privatisation of elements of the NHS could be made irreversible for future governments wanting to restore services to public hands, according to a new legal analysis.
The legal advice was prepared by one of the UK’s leading QCs on European law for the Unite trade union, which will reveal on Monday that it has been holding talks with the government about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal between Europe and the US.
Unite believes the government has been keeping Britain in the dark over the impact of the deal and argues the NHS should be excluded from the trade deal. The government dismissed the idea that TTIP poses a threat as “irresponsible and false”.
TTIP would give investors new legal rights, which extend beyond both UK and EU law as well as NHS contracts, according to Michael Bowsher QC, a former chair of the Bar Council’s EU law committee who was tasked by Unite to prepare the advice.
Bowsher said he had concluded that the deal poses “a real and serious risk” to future UK government decision making regarding the NHS.
“We consider that the solution to the problems TTIP poses to the NHS – and which is likely to provide the greatest protection – is for the NHS to be excluded from the agreement by way of a blanket exception contained within the main text of TTIP,” Bowsher said.
In the most explicit warning from a figure of prominence about the potential threat to the NHS from the deal – which may yet prove a rallying point for leftwing out campaigners in the EU referendum – he also warned that it could allow private companies with links to NHS contracts to win higher levels of compensation through bypassing domestic courts.
He also said that TTIP’s procurement rules could force the NHS to contract out services it wants to keep in house or spin off them off as “mutuals”
Unite, which has already held a series of high-level meetings with officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and with the minister for trade, Francis Maude, will present Bowsher’s advice to the government on Tuesday.
Unite’s assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail, said: “The UK government has no right to allow EU bureaucrats to negotiate away our ability to control the future of our NHS. David Cameron has the power to exclude the NHS from the trade deal – he must act and prevent the irreversible sale of our NHS.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2016 14:11
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Since Cooper seems to be buying into the "sharing economy" VC crap, and because somebody asked about Uber on the previous page, let's take a look at the sharing economy end game:
Uber for welfare - A bold proposal to use the “gig economy” to reboot the safety net.
quote:Historically, some opponents of workfare have argued that work requirements are untenable because the government cannot find a job for every welfare beneficiary. That may have been true years ago, when a “job” was binary and full time, but today the gig economy offers the solution: It can easily and quickly put millions of people back to work, allowing almost anyone to find a job with hours that are flexible with virtual locations anywhere. Much of this work is well above minimum wage and it can further the careers of workers as well. With a wide array of different employment options, workers can choose jobs better tailored to their skill-sets and upgrade their skills, which can advance their careers.
What do these jobs look like? For those willing and able to drive, Uber and Lyft enlist anyone to be a driver — assuming they pass a background check — and offers special financing or rental discounts for vehicles. Currently, the average Uber driver makes about $19 an hour, and in cities like Los Angeles and New York, their earnings are even higher.
For those who don’t drive, the options are nearly endless. They could deliver goods and groceries for Postmates and Instacart, assemble furniture on TaskRabbit or mow lawns and plow driveways with PLOWZ & MOWZ. Or if they have the know-how they could offer photo shoots, voice lessons, mural painting, tennis lessons, or painting a house on Thumbtack. Amazon’s MechanicalTurk, Fiver and other companies pay for general tasks that can usually be done on a computer or phone anywhere across the country. Those with particular skill-sets have other platforms available: Coders can do freelance work on Elance, Upwork, and Scalable Path, house cleaners can list themselves on Handy, graphics designers can submit bids and graphics on 99 Designs, and lawyers can draft legal contracts on UpCounsel. People with general interpersonal skills could be a virtual personal assistant on Zirtual.com. There’s an easily available job for just about everyone in the gig economy.
The government should expect that able-bodied safety net beneficiaries be willing to engage in the gig economy before collecting benefits. But transitioning to such a system requires policymakers to rethink the entire safety net, affecting nearly every federal entitlement program, so that it is oriented around the gig economy. That’s no easy task, but there are some important decisions that lawmakers can make to move in that direction.
First, Congress must take the lesson from the 1996 round of welfare reform and apply work requirements to the rest of the safety net. To do so, it should strengthen the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — commonly known as welfare— to clearly prohibit any president from essentially waiving its work requirements. Lawmakers also should restore work requirements for food stamps and impose them for federal housing assistance. Other federal safety-net programs should be transferred to the states, as has been proposed by Speaker Ryan and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Congress should clarify that states are allowed to implement work requirements for adults on Medicaid.
These work requirements should ensure that everyone who is capable of performing a job in the gig economy does so. To do that, the next president should direct the relevant agencies, or Congress, to redefine what it means to be unable “to engage insubstantial gainful activity”— the standard required to determine who is exempt from work requirements — in light of the rise of the gig economy. Many people who qualify under the current definition of disabled may be fantastic candidates for more flexible gig economy jobs.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2016 10:25
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Nothing puts me in a better mood for building apps than spending hours of my life researching and switching electricity providers
But think of the opportunities to disrupt the price-comparison-website market!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2016 10:34
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
There's not really a left argument to be made. A competent Labour government in 2020 (a big ask on a number of levels) could potentially do some good if we're out by that point. But it involves a lot of ifs.
A competent Tory government in 2020 could also do some unspeakably foul things if we're out by that point.
The EU is obviously a hive of neoliberal shitheads, but if you're at all a member of the precariat you should (imo) be prepared to work yourself to death campaigning for your local Labour (or SNP) candidate before you decide to vote leave.
Well there is the TTIP/NHS stuff: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/22/ttip-deal-real-serious-risk-nhs-leading-qc
The Remain response seems to be a combination of "Tories/Blairities would do TTIP anyway" and "no you see privatising the NHS is actually good".
The argument that the Tories would be able to pull off a UK only TTIP equivalent in a few years doesn't seem all that believable given that TTIP negotiations have been going on for years already and it sounds like they still won't be done for years. Funnily enough the difficulty of the UK negotiating trade treaties is something the Remain side are keen to point out the rest of the time, but not when it comes to TTIP.
Although this is perhaps a bit irrelevant in the context of a Tory government that wants to further privatise the NHS anyway, even without international treaties requiring them to do it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2016 14:59
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Dear Mum, I'm going to be a Muslim: Anger over pupils' RE project that asked them to write a letter to their parents explaining why they were converting to Islam
quote:It was meant to be a creative writing exercise as part of a Religious Education lesson.
But when pupils were asked to write a letter to their parents saying they had converted to Islam, it was met with outrage.
The 12 and 13-year-olds at Beaucamps High School in Guernsey were asked to consider what it would be like to become a Muslim and to write a letter to their loved ones explaining their decision.
But many parents blasted the homework, saying it was dangerous when so many youngsters were fleeing Britain to wage jihad in Syria.
One said: ‘The idiot who thought this one up is not fit to be at the school or in education.’
Muslims make up less than one per cent of the population on Guernsey and the island recently refused to accept any Syrian refugees.
Gemma Gough said she and her husband Will had complained to Guernsey’s education department, and added that their son Thomas would not complete the work.
Writing on Facebook, she said: ‘Sorry, but both Will and I feel very strongly – as do many, many other parents – that this is not acceptable. Kids are too impressionable, and imagine if these letters got in the wrong hands in years to come.’
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2016 15:05
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
George Osborne warns of further spending cuts in Budget
quote:Chancellor George Osborne has warned he may have to make fresh cuts to public spending in next month's budget. He told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg that global economic turmoil and slower growth meant "we may need to undertake further reductions". Mr Osborne slowed the pace of spending cuts in his November spending review. But recent figures showing the UK economy was smaller than expected meant savings must be found in his Budget statement on 17 March, he said.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC's political editor during a visit to China, Mr Osborne said he would rather look for extra cuts now than risk breaking his own manifesto commitment to achieve a surplus in the budget by the end of this Parliament. The chancellor did not completely rule out raising taxes in the event of a further slowdown in growth, but said that now was not the time for "significant" tax hikes.
He would not spell out the details of any further cuts, but he said the Conservatives would stick to their manifesto pledge to protect some government departments. It is understood he would not look to increase the level of cuts dramatically but would initially seek to make further efficiencies in government departments.
He said in the exclusive interview: "We may need to undertake further reductions in spending because this country can only afford what it can afford and we'll address that in the Budget because I'm absolutely clear we've got to root our country in the principle that we live within our means and that we have economic security." He went on to say the "whole purpose of our economic plan was to have a budget surplus.
"It is a rainy day plan - it is all about anticipating the future and because things have got markedly worse in the global economy, because we have more facts now from the Office for National Statistics about the size of the British economy and, frankly, because we got big challenges at home to make the economy more productive even as more people get work. Because of all of those things, we have to respond to those events. So that's what our plan is rooted in and it may require further reductions in spending. I'll address that in the Budget but people should know this of me: I will do what is required to keep our country safe and secure."
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2016 20:23
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Confusion reigns as UK scientists face government ‘gagging’ clause
quote:UK scientists may be prevented from arguing for changes in national legislation or policy — if research grants are not exempted from a government ban on the use of public funds for political lobbying.
But days after scientists raised the alarm about the government’s anti-lobbying move, the situation is mired in confusion. The UK government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), which is responsible for most of the public cash that is channelled to British researchers and universities, could not confirm to Nature whether the lobbying ban — which will apply to government grants from May — will affect science funding. Major UK research funders say that they do not know whether they will have to implement the rule.
On 6 February, the government announced that any groups in receipt of public money will be banned from using those funds to attempt to influence either the government or Parliament. A clause inserted into all government grants starting in May will state that they cannot be used for “activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government or political parties ... or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action”.
In theory, this could mean that scientists at UK universities are not allowed to tell ministers what the policy implications of their work are, or respond to consultations that touch on their area of interest — potentially removing their ability to comment on everything from climate change to medical regulation.
“It’s clear this has simply come about by accident,” says Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in London. The rule does not seem to be designed to target academics, he says. Rather, scientists have been caught in a move to stop charities and other groups from using public grants to lobby for more money, which one minister has called “the farce of government lobbying government".
But unless an exception is given to researchers, Ward adds, they will face having to use their own funds to do anything that could be considered lobbying or influencing policy. “If you take it to the letter of the law, it means you couldn’t respond to government consultations or inquiries,” says Ward. Removing academics from debates over policy would leave such discussions dominated by privately funded lobby groups.
 accident
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2016 20:42
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
David Cameron’s £140m to tear down sink estates turns out to be a loan
quote:David Cameron’s promise to spend millions on bulldozing and rebuilding sink estates as a key part of his prime ministerial legacy appeared to unravel last night as it emerged that the small amount of money set aside for the project can only be accessed by private developers in the form of loans.
To great fanfare, the prime minister announced his intention in January to potentially tear down 100 of the UK’s worst estates to tackle drug abuse and gang culture. The modest size of the £140m “fund” set aside by Cameron to meet costs was widely questioned at the time, but Downing Street insisted that the redevelopment programme would reverse decades of neglect.
The housing developments being targeted reportedly include the Winstanley estate in Wandsworth, south London, the Lower Falinge estate in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, north London.
Now the Observer has learned that the £140m is only available in loan form to private sector organisations who come forward to regenerate stricken areas. A statement quietly released by the Department for Communities and Local Governmentin February admitted: “£140m of loan funding has been set aside by government, to be used as a springboard for partnership and joint venture arrangements, with the active involvement of communities.”
A spokesman said the rate of interest on the loans to private companies would vary “scheme by scheme”. The application process, more than a month since the announcement, has yet to be opened to interested parties.
The revelation will be an embarrassment for the prime minister, who claimed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show at the time that “in the worst estates … you’re confronted by concrete slabs dropped from on high, brutal high-rise towers and dark alleyways that are a gift to criminals and drug dealers”.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2016 20:01
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
No Ronya, Bevan is actually quite popular among the left at all times.
No you see the working classes are too stupid to know their own minds, which is why they need privately educated oxbridge PPE graduates to tell them what to think.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2016 11:40
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Has this site been posted in here before? Trade Unionists Against the EU
quote:IF more proof was needed that social Europe is a myth, there is the fact that EU member states hit by so-called bailouts from the EU, the European Central Bank and the IMF — the hated troika — are suffering the largest drop in workers with collective bargaining rights in the world.
The International Labour Organisation recently reported that the largest decline in collective bargaining coverage was in Romania with a 63 per cent drop and Greece at 45 per cent.
These “bailouts” — designed to ensure Europe’s largest banks were handsomely paid off while the population were dumped with the debt — also demand mass privatisation and severe austerity measures, with the troika directly interfering in wage negotiations.
The autumn International Labour Organisation (ILO) briefing on Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining has revealed that the sharpest decline in bargaining coverage occurred in the group of European countries that suffered severe economic difficulties during the crisis.
The bargaining coverage rate for this group of 10 countries fell by an average 21 per cent. Many of these countries — Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal and Romania — required international financial assistance, it states.
This fully reflects the policy position contained within a report prepared by the European Commission’s directorate general for economic and financial affairs, which advocated employer-friendly reforms, including undermining collective bargaining, abolishing industry-level agreements at workplace level, decreasing bargaining coverage and an overall reduction in the wage-setting power of trade unions.
quote:The primary functions of trade unions are to regulate the supply of labour in the interests of the workforce and to use its collective power to place democratic controls on capital. Collective bargaining is the core activity in this respect.
Specifically outlawed under the four so-called “freedoms,” neither of these functions are possible within the European Union.
Trade unionists must realise that the EU actively seeks to violate trade union rights and the ability of workers to place any sort of restriction on capital.
This is why the Tory government, the Confederation of British Industry and the Institute of Directors will be campaigning for Britain to remain a member of the EU in the upcoming referendum.
Democrats in the workplace must make their voices heard in the coming year through Trade Unionists Against the European Union (tuaeu.co.uk) and work to build the progressive alternative to EU membership.
That requires the building of an internationalism based on the free co-operation of nation states, not the phoney internationalism or “solidarity” of corporate empire which offers workers nothing.
quote:Nearly 30 million people – one in every eight Europeans – are unemployed and it is getting worse.
Young workers are even worse off. The unemployment rate for those aged 25 or younger is one in four across the EU. Youth unemployment is 50.5 per cent in Spain, 50.4 per cent in Greece, 35.4 per cent in Portugal, 31.9 per cent in Italy, and 31.6 per cent in Ireland.
Therefore it takes some brass neck for EU enthusiasts to repeat the old claim that 3.5 million jobs will disappear if Britain leaves the European Union.
This random figure was first published in 2004 by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)and has been regularly recycled in the media and by Europhile ideologues ever since
But statisticians at independent fact-checking organisation Full Fact point out: “Figures from the early 2000s suggest around three million jobs are linked to trade with the European Union. They don’t say they are dependent on the UK being an EU member … Using similar methods, a similar figure today has shown closer to 4.5 million jobs, but this still doesn’t show how many are dependent on UK membership.”
|
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2016 12:03
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
More than 85% of public tips on benefit 'frauds' are false
quote:More than 85% of fraud allegations made by the public over the last five years were false, according to figures obtained by the Observer.
A freedom of information request to the Department for Work and Pensions discloses that between 2010 and 2015 the government closed 1,041,219 alleged cases of benefit fraud put forward by the public. Insufficient or no evidence of fraud was discovered in 887,468 of these. In 2015 alone, of the 153,038 cases closed by the DWP’s Fraud and Error Service, 132,772 led to no action.
People can use an online form on the DWP website to anonymously report suspects, listing their eye colour, piercings, scars, tattoos and other details they deem relevant. Suspicions can also be logged through the DWP benefit fraud hotline.
[…]
The inaccurate reports will throw into question multiple government advertising campaigns, claiming that the public has a “role” in identifying “benefit cheats”. Television adverts, social media posts, letters and radio campaigns have been used to warn claimants about fraudulently claiming benefits. Government statistics show fraudulent claims accounted for 0.7% – or £1.2bn – of total benefit expenditure in the financial year 2012-2013. An estimated £1.6bn was underpaid to claimants by the DWP. In the same year a further 0.9% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid following claimant errors, which occur when claimants fail to report changes in their circumstances or the information provided is incomplete or inaccurate but there is no fraudulent intent.
[…]
The response to the freedom of information request from the DWP states: “It should be noted that members of the public, as they are not trained to detect benefit fraud, are not always correct in their identification.”
It's almost as if the advertising campaigns are really just an excuse to paint all benefits recipients as criminals in the eyes of the public and not about saving money at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FENOAIrHSl8
|
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2016 13:13
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Just imagine if they actually threatened the real tax avoiders like this.
Just videos sent by email to CEOs and accounting departments saying "we're watching you, pay some loving tax you slimy arseholes".
Sounds like a good project for some film students.
Unfortunately film students are making things like this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQvaXV4XlVE
|
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2016 13:35
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/black-mp-dawn-butler-reveals-7457460
quote:A black MP today revealed how she suffered racism in parliament after a fellow MP thought she must have been a cleaner.
Labour’s Dawn Butler recalled the incident which took place in a Members'-only lift at the Palace of Westminster.
Asked on BBC Five Live’s Piennar’s Politics if she had ever experienced racism in parliament, the Brent Central MP replied: “Yes - God, there are so many incidents.
“There was a time when I was in the lift. It was a Members’ lift that Members of Parliament use specially in cases (where) we have get to places quickly.
“I was in the lift and some other MP said, ‘This lift really isn’t for cleaners’.”
She refused to name the MP.
In 2008, Ms Butler wrote an article describing how former Tory minister David Heathcote-Amory confronted her as she went to sit in the Members’ section on the terrace.
“He actually said to me, ‘What are you doing here? This is for Members only’,” she wrote.
“He then proceeded to ask me, 'Are you a member?' And I said, ‘Yes I am, are you?‘ And he turned around and said to his colleague, ‘They’re letting anybody in nowadays.’
“This man could not equate the image he saw in front of him with that of an MP. It was quite upsetting for my team and so we had to take it further.”
At first I thought this was going to be about my ex-MP but it turns out that this was a different time a Tory MP tried to kick somebody out the HoC lifts for not being a white man.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 29, 2016 10:12
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2024 13:27
|
|
- dispatch_async
- Nov 28, 2014
-
Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life
|
Wasn't this guy accused of getting young girls so drunk they couldn't stand and then having sex with them? "Isolate, intoxicate and penetrate." Was his motto, or am I remembering something different.
The "Isolate, Inebriate, Penetrate" guy aka the "Tatler Tory" (ugh) was Mark Clarke, not Andre Walker.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Tory-party.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-opponent.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ed-suicide.html
quote:Shocking claims of violent sexual abuse by one of David Cameron’s top Election aides have been reported to Conservative chiefs.
Three female Tory whistleblowers say senior aide Mark Clarke, who ran the party’s Road Trip 2015, attacked and threatened them.
One says he forced her against a wall and demanded sex; a second claims he threatened to ‘destroy her’ after she stood up to him; and a third alleged he molested her in a bathroom when she was 17.
Two of the women say that he bragged of using alcohol to make women sleep with him, calling it his ‘IIP’ technique: ‘Isolate, Inebriate and Penetrate.’ They are among more than 20 Tories who have complained to an official party inquiry linked to the suicide of young Conservative aide Elliott Johnson.
Clarke is also accused of preying on women in a 100-strong team of young Tory activists on his Road Trip campaign. Some of those on the trail were as young as 16.
Tory HQ handed out up to £250 a night to provide free drinks for the activists as they toured key constituencies and stayed in hotels.
Once dubbed a ‘Tatler Tory’ and tipped for the Cabinet, Clarke allegedly used bullying and blackmail to try to control the Tory youth movement and become an MP.
Conservative chiefs now face calls to explain why Clarke, a known womaniser, was allowed to take charge of an Election team involving young girls.
He has told friends he once accidentally dislocated the jaw of one of his lovers when he slapped her during a consensual sex session, requiring her to seek hospital treatment in the early hours. He said they told doctors it was a ‘netball injury’.
Newly ennobled Baroness Emma Pidding, a personal and political ally of Clarke and chairman of his rebranded Road Trip 2020, also faces questions. She arranged for Clarke to be feted by Cameron in public at the Conservative National Convention in July.
Tory HQ has been told married Clarke, 37, regularly shared a room with his mistress, India Brummitt, in Road Trip overnight stays.
Brummitt is a Commons aide to Tory MP Claire Perry who advises David Cameron on how to curb the ‘sexualisation of children’.
Clarke’s physical attack on Johnson in a Westminster pub in August, witnessed by dozens of Tory aides, triggered protests by those who had suffered similarly at his hands.
Incredibly, Clarke stepped up his threats and intimidation to try to silence them. Johnson refused to back down in a second pub confrontation with Clarke days before his death on September 15.
Now two Tory women whistleblowers who gave evidence against Clarke to Tory chiefs have spoken to The Mail on Sunday in return for remaining anonymous.
One, aged 20, revealed how Clarke targeted her on a Road Trip visit to Harlow, Essex. She said: ‘We were walking down a street late at night. He waited until the others with us had moved ahead and shoved me into a doorway. He grabbed me by the neck and started running his hands over me. He said he wanted to sleep with me and named the hotel where he wanted to take me. Luckily someone came round the corner and I managed to get away but he didn’t give up.
‘He kept pursuing me with text messages trying to arrange a date and time. I wouldn’t call it attempted rape but it was certainly an assault.’
|
|
#
¿
Feb 29, 2016 21:25
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2016 17:46
)
