Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
David, an open question to you and all smokers. Why do you do it?
When I were a lad, it was just about possible to believe the health effects were minor, but these days it is so blindingly obvious that it is a serious health hazard and for absolutely no benefit that it is tempting to believe that only the reckless and utterly stupid ever start in the first place.
And of course we now know how addictive it is, so not starting is by a very long way the easiest way to avoid wrecking your health.
So why does anybody do it? It's bonkers.
" a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke"
What should you do if your girlfriend starts smoking ?
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
David, an open question to you and all smokers. Why do you do it?
When I were a lad, it was just about possible to believe the health effects were minor, but these days it is so blindingly obvious that it is a serious health hazard and for absolutely no benefit that it is tempting to believe that only the reckless and utterly stupid ever start in the first place.
And of course we now know how addictive it is, so not starting is by a very long way the easiest way to avoid wrecking your health.
So why does anybody do it? It's bonkers.
" a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke"
Not a smidgen about the by-elections on the BBC 6 o'clock news.
Why are they keeping shtum about an important political story? Not frit are they?
In fact no news on any BBC outlet regarding the by-elections.
They normally don't comment while the polls are still open - I expect it will be on the 10 o'clock news.
Thats news to me. The BBC usually comment that an important by-election is taking place. I bet if UKIP wasn't standing it would have made the news. And no, I'm not being paranoid.
Not a smidgen about the by-elections on the BBC 6 o'clock news.
Why are they keeping shtum about an important political story? Not frit are they?
In fact no news on any BBC outlet regarding the by-elections.
They normally don't comment while the polls are still open - I expect it will be on the 10 o'clock news.
Thats news to me. The BBC usually comment that an important by-election is taking place. I bet if UKIP wasn't standing it would have made the news. And no, I'm not being paranoid.
It was on every BBC NEWS broadcast I saw yesterday - I think on polling day they are wary of inadvertently drawing attention to particular candidates. I'm sure it will be in the 10 o'clock news.....
It's the 3rd story in Politics on the BBC news website:
Labour still has time to choose the right form of taxes and the tax on Big Tobacco is popular by its silence.It's the Robin Hood Tax that's staring them in the face,a no-brainer if there ever was one.
My bet would be that smokers are disproportionately Labour, though they might also be disproportionately of the disposition that Labour can keep hitting them in the face but they'll keep coming back to them.
David, an open question to you and all smokers. Why do you do it?
When I were a lad, it was just about possible to believe the health effects were minor, but these days it is so blindingly obvious that it is a serious health hazard and for absolutely no benefit that it is tempting to believe that only the reckless and utterly stupid ever start in the first place.
And of course we now know how addictive it is, so not starting is by a very long way the easiest way to avoid wrecking your health.
So why does anybody do it? It's bonkers.
" a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke"
"Do you smoke after sex?" "I don't know, baby. I never looked!" - Austin Powers
Sky: 60 people "quarantined" north of Paris; 4 suspected Ebola cases...
If this becomes an epidemic it will lead to real racism against immigrants especially from Africa due to fear of disease and might cause people wearing gloves again in their daily lives. I know AIDS did have a big cultural impact when it appeared in the 80's.
When was the century that people stopped wearing gloves in their everyday lives, the 19th?
I though it was of no real problem because 50-90% of patients died from ebola pretty quickly before they had a chance to transmit it, but now it has an incubation period of 3 weeks before symptoms and the easy way it is transmitted (by contact with a patient or with items the patient had contact) now we have to worry it is a real plague. Which is fitting in these times were europe is collapsing economically and socially, being besieged by russians and muslims on all sides like in the dark ages.
From a political point of view Labour (pro NHS) and UKIP (anti-immigrant, border controls) will gain.
Sky: 60 people "quarantined" north of Paris; 4 suspected Ebola cases...
Does anyone else think talk of UKIP / elections / Labour / Tories might soon be completely overshadowed by Ebola?
If this takes hold we're in big trouble. Remember, it has hit so far in regions where people movement is not so quick and easy as the west.
Betting hardly seems relevant or appropriate but if anyone sees a market for NO election on May 7th I'd be interested to know.
p.s. it goes without saying that this is one topic on which I hope I am utterly wrong.
I'm in agreement with you - I feel very pessimistic about the outcome.
It took months to get Foot and Mouth under control, through mass culling, a ban on animal movements to and from infected areas and testing. Has no one learnt any lessons from that?
Simply privatise rubbish collection etc - why is it subsidised and electricity isn't ?
Could you imagine half a dozen of those big lorries turning up at the same time on the same day in the same street, each to collect from a handful of different houses?
In the States local municipalities put it out to tender. No reason why the councils should employ binmen directly.
You're being offered an Audi, but because you think the Audi should be a Mercedes, you insist it's no different to a Ford. So you'll settle for the Ford over the Audi. Except the Ford is not on offer any more. The offer is now of a Lada.
For God's sake just grow up.
Us Kippers can vote for who we want without having to feel guilty. Why should I vote for a party I do not believe in, one not much different from the other two, just to satisfy Tories who see us traitors, when in fact I have never voted Tory in my life.
If Dave had stuck to his cast iron guarantee (remember that? It was a lie) and kept Gove in power I may have considered voting for them for the first time.
Now I shall bring out the inner 'fruitcake, loony and closet racist' in me and vote for the party I truly support.
One piece of advice that Dave may do well to heed, when in tough times you may need someone's support so best make sure you have not constantly insulted that person at some point.
perdix begins (edited) The kipper party is devoid of any logic, either because they don't know the facts or wish to ignore the facts. Dave's cast-iron guarantee was made assuming that there would be an election before the treaty was ratified. He made a mistake in not qualifying his statement. The treaty having been ratified it would have taken a vote in parliament to initiate a referendum. The Tories did/do not have a majority to do this. The LibDems and Labour would not agree - we might vote to leave! Even if a referendum took place and the vote was OUT , I cannot see Labour and the LibDems passing the necessary Act to secede from the EU.
The kippers have just been populist opportunists. Earlier this year Farage said that it would be ridiculous to ring fence the budget for the NHS. Recently he produced a poster saying that only UKIP can save the NHS!
On HS2 they have been completely inconsistent. Their 2010 manifesto said that there should be three high speed lines in the UK. Now, having seen the protests, they aim to harvest votes by being against it.
Mr. Speedy, horrendous to consider, but if it got a serious foothold here you'd need to bear in mind that huge numbers could die and that would alter the electoral balance.
Apparently the death rate is higher than I'd read earlier, at 70%.
But before we all get carried away with the nightmare scenario, the Spanish, Macedonian and American cases are all low numbers in quarantine. The French one seems more serious, but we'll need to see how that goes.
It may be prudent to either screen or halt all ferries and the Eurostar.
Miss Anne, it's worth considering. Let's hope you're wrong.
I have a half written piece wondering if Ebola will have an impact on next year's election.
It will make people panic into more hospital spending (Labour) and border controls/less immigration (UKIP). They will be fearful for their lives and fearful of the outside world.
Not a smidgen about the by-elections on the BBC 6 o'clock news.
Why are they keeping shtum about an important political story? Not frit are they?
In fact no news on any BBC outlet regarding the by-elections.
They normally don't comment while the polls are still open - I expect it will be on the 10 o'clock news.
Thats news to me. The BBC usually comment that an important by-election is taking place. I bet if UKIP wasn't standing it would have made the news. And no, I'm not being paranoid.
Here are the Ofcom rules for stations other than the BBC (the Trust cover the BBC but I imagine it will be no different). Effectively there is a news blackout whilst the polls are open:
6.4 Discussion and analysis of election and referendum issues must finish when the poll opens. (This refers to the opening of actual polling stations. This rule does not apply to any poll conducted entirely by post.)
6.5 Broadcasters may not publish the results of any opinion poll on polling day itself until the election or referendum poll closes. (For European Parliamentary elections, this applies until all polls throughout the European Union have closed.)
6.6 Candidates in UK elections, and representatives of permitted participants in UK referendums, must not act as news presenters, interviewers or presenters of any type of programme during the election period.
Campaign advertising is hotting up in the last few weeks. On October 2nd Obama made an incredibly stupid comment during a speech, saying that although he wasn't on the ballot, his policies are. Democrats groaned, as they are running as far as they can from Obama, and THAT NIGHT Republican commercials began running containing Obama's comment.
Democrats are broadly trying to make the campaign local, to take Obama and Obamacare out of the mix as much as possible. Both are major vote losers. Republicans want to make this a national campaign.
Today I see that in their new commercials House Democrats are trying to distance themselves from Nancy Pelosi, saying how they didn't vote for her etc.
Add to that the article in the NY Times yesterday saying Obama has been effectively benched, as nobody wants him anywhere ner them on the campaign trail, and it's getting interesting.
Speaking of Obamacare, on January 1 companies employing more than 50 people enter its embrace. As a result yesterday WalMart annonced that it would stop insuring part time employees on Jan 1, some 30,000 people. Target and Home Depot have already done so.
Wait until they have to face those huge deductions and copays on the bronze plans..
My mate, running in MA, just got endorsed by Michelle Obama and Mayor Bloomberg... He triumphed in a rather nasty primary (he was the rebel) and now taking the fight to the GOP
Great to see you back, Bunnco. Clear, interesting and insightful summaries, as always.
One thing that always impresses me: how come you always manage to be 'on the spot' no matter where it is, or when it is?
Are you ubiquitous?
Not Ubiquitous but I do get the chance to be 'on the spot' quite a lot and, when I am able to, I can give some eye witness reports from the inside just as I see it on the ground.
Mr. Speedy, horrendous to consider, but if it got a serious foothold here you'd need to bear in mind that huge numbers could die and that would alter the electoral balance.
Apparently the death rate is higher than I'd read earlier, at 70%.
But before we all get carried away with the nightmare scenario, the Spanish, Macedonian and American cases are all low numbers in quarantine. The French one seems more serious, but we'll need to see how that goes.
It may be prudent to either screen or halt all ferries and the Eurostar.
It alter the people's priorities too because if it becomes an epidemic: 1. The economy will collapse (if 70% of consumers and wealthy people die, it will have an impact) 2. Society will be frightful of the outside world. 3. Everyone will become a hypochondriac.
Miss Anne, it's worth considering. Let's hope you're wrong.
I have a half written piece wondering if Ebola will have an impact on next year's election.
It will make people panic into more hospital spending (Labour) and border controls/less immigration (UKIP). They will be fearful for their lives and fearful of the outside world.
Ebola favours UKIP. Pro immigration parties will be blamed.
Miss Anne, it's worth considering. Let's hope you're wrong.
I have a half written piece wondering if Ebola will have an impact on next year's election.
It will make people panic into more hospital spending (Labour) and border controls/less immigration (UKIP). They will be fearful for their lives and fearful of the outside world.
Ebola favours UKIP. Labour will be blamed.
And Labour will blame the Tories for cutting spending on health and for mismanaging the crisis that happened on their watch.
Miss Anne, it's worth considering. Let's hope you're wrong.
I have a half written piece wondering if Ebola will have an impact on next year's election.
Mike might let you run with it still?
Glad it's not just me that's worried. I lived through a cholera epidemic once which wiped out half the population where I was living. Ebola seems more deadly on several counts.
Now is the time to be enforce some strict lockdowns and tighten measures. Interesting what someone said about racism though because on a train earlier a group of Africans went through the carriage and once of them rested his hand on my table, and I'd lie if I said it didn't cross my mind. Grim times.
I'm guessing most people would have expected the government to impose checks on flights arriving from West Africa when this first started, and won't be in a forgiving mood if it does start spreading in this country.
Too long have people in this country held their nose and voted for parties which they didn't like purely because they liked the other party even less. All that happens is that the party that gets in counts the votes as a mandate and believes them to be positive votes for their policies when they are nothing of the kind.
The only way to change the politics of this country is to start voting for parties with policies we like not voting against parties because we think it is better to be only buried neck deep in the shit rather than chin deep.
If we all do this parties would actually have to start coming up with policies people actually wanted rather than relying on "but at least we aren't them over there"
Carry on your way and it is merely a vote for continuing the madness
If you actually honestly believe this BNP canard UKIP has adopted - that there is no difference between Cameron and Miliband's respective parties - then either your analytical abilities are very seriously deficient, or you are simply not paying attention. That's not intended as an attack; it's a statement of what is surely obvious.
In certain areas, of course they are similar. They completely agree that murder should be illegal, for example; that there should be schools; that war should not be declared on France.
This doesn't make them the same.
I also find it extraordinary that you seem to feel that, as there isn't a party that represents every single one of your views precisely, it's just fine for one that should be utter anathema to you to get in by default. Somehow this outcome nothing to do with your action or inaction.
You do realise that this is precisely what happened in the 80s? That Thatcher won majorities on a declining vote share because the two lefty parties let her in? How do you think they feel about themselves now for letting that happen? Would the political spectrum today be to the left of where it is now, or to the right, had Kinnock got in in 1987 or 1992?
Very few UKIPpers seem to have given this any genuine thought. What one gets is a rant about how others somehow feel entitled to their votes, that they can do as they like, and they're not liable for the consequences of their deeds and choices.
This is the very definition of irresponsibility. What we are entitled to expect of other voters is that they reflect on what they are doing when they cast a vote and are big enough to own the consequences.
Comments
Slow down and use some lubrication.
Do you mind if I smoke?
It was nice. Particularly when I was stressed.
That said I was maybe a 4 a day man. Then I moved onto cigars.
But giving up smoking is easy. I've done it many times.
It's the 3rd story in Politics on the BBC news website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29542009
If this takes hold we're in big trouble. Remember, it has hit so far in regions where people movement is not so quick and easy as the west.
Betting hardly seems relevant or appropriate but if anyone sees a market for NO election on May 7th I'd be interested to know.
p.s. it goes without saying that this is one topic on which I hope I am utterly wrong.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29542009
Nothing to see about a Labour lost deposit....
"I don't know, baby. I never looked!" - Austin Powers
I know AIDS did have a big cultural impact when it appeared in the 80's.
When was the century that people stopped wearing gloves in their everyday lives, the 19th?
I though it was of no real problem because 50-90% of patients died from ebola pretty quickly before they had a chance to transmit it, but now it has an incubation period of 3 weeks before symptoms and the easy way it is transmitted (by contact with a patient or with items the patient had contact) now we have to worry it is a real plague. Which is fitting in these times were europe is collapsing economically and socially, being besieged by russians and muslims on all sides like in the dark ages.
From a political point of view Labour (pro NHS) and UKIP (anti-immigrant, border controls) will gain.
It took months to get Foot and Mouth under control, through mass culling, a ban on animal movements to and from infected areas and testing. Has no one learnt any lessons from that?
Us Kippers can vote for who we want without having to feel guilty. Why should I vote for a party I do not believe in, one not much different from the other two, just to satisfy Tories who see us traitors, when in fact I have never voted Tory in my life.
If Dave had stuck to his cast iron guarantee (remember that? It was a lie) and kept Gove in power I may have considered voting for them for the first time.
Now I shall bring out the inner 'fruitcake, loony and closet racist' in me and vote for the party I truly support.
One piece of advice that Dave may do well to heed, when in tough times you may need someone's support so best make sure you have not constantly insulted that person at some point.
perdix begins (edited)
The kipper party is devoid of any logic, either because they don't know the facts or wish to ignore the facts. Dave's cast-iron guarantee was made assuming that there would be an election before the treaty was ratified. He made a mistake in not qualifying his statement. The treaty having been ratified it would have taken a vote in parliament to initiate a referendum. The Tories did/do not have a majority to do this. The LibDems and Labour would not agree - we might vote to leave! Even if a referendum took place and the vote was OUT , I cannot see Labour and the LibDems passing the necessary Act to secede from the EU.
The kippers have just been populist opportunists. Earlier this year Farage said that it would be ridiculous to ring fence the budget for the NHS. Recently he produced a poster saying that only UKIP can save the NHS!
On HS2 they have been completely inconsistent. Their 2010 manifesto said that there should be three high speed lines in the UK. Now, having seen the protests, they aim to harvest votes by being against it.
Good luck with Ed as PM!
Apparently the death rate is higher than I'd read earlier, at 70%.
But before we all get carried away with the nightmare scenario, the Spanish, Macedonian and American cases are all low numbers in quarantine. The French one seems more serious, but we'll need to see how that goes.
It may be prudent to either screen or halt all ferries and the Eurostar.
My stint as guest editor ends in about 5 minutes time.
They will be fearful for their lives and fearful of the outside world.
6.4 Discussion and analysis of election and referendum issues must finish when the poll opens. (This refers to the opening of actual polling stations. This rule does not apply to any poll conducted entirely by post.)
6.5 Broadcasters may not publish the results of any opinion poll on polling day itself until the election or referendum poll closes. (For European Parliamentary elections, this applies until all polls throughout the European Union have closed.)
6.6 Candidates in UK elections, and representatives of permitted participants in UK referendums, must not act as news presenters, interviewers or presenters of any type of programme during the election period.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/elections/
This is just another stick to hit them with.
1. The economy will collapse (if 70% of consumers and wealthy people die, it will have an impact)
2. Society will be frightful of the outside world.
3. Everyone will become a hypochondriac.
Well done on guest editing the site - terrific job.
Hip, hip.....
Glad it's not just me that's worried. I lived through a cholera epidemic once which wiped out half the population where I was living. Ebola seems more deadly on several counts.
Now is the time to be enforce some strict lockdowns and tighten measures. Interesting what someone said about racism though because on a train earlier a group of Africans went through the carriage and once of them rested his hand on my table, and I'd lie if I said it didn't cross my mind. Grim times.
In certain areas, of course they are similar. They completely agree that murder should be illegal, for example; that there should be schools; that war should not be declared on France.
This doesn't make them the same.
I also find it extraordinary that you seem to feel that, as there isn't a party that represents every single one of your views precisely, it's just fine for one that should be utter anathema to you to get in by default. Somehow this outcome nothing to do with your action or inaction.
You do realise that this is precisely what happened in the 80s? That Thatcher won majorities on a declining vote share because the two lefty parties let her in? How do you think they feel about themselves now for letting that happen? Would the political spectrum today be to the left of where it is now, or to the right, had Kinnock got in in 1987 or 1992?
Very few UKIPpers seem to have given this any genuine thought. What one gets is a rant about how others somehow feel entitled to their votes, that they can do as they like, and they're not liable for the consequences of their deeds and choices.
This is the very definition of irresponsibility. What we are entitled to expect of other voters is that they reflect on what they are doing when they cast a vote and are big enough to own the consequences.