Labour have decided to skip the first part of "History repeats itself...". What on earth is going on with these numbskulls?
It's not clear how this qualifies as a reshuffle - basically it's taken him two days and god knows how many man hours to fire Michael Dugher. A politician (and authentic voice apparently; I assume that means he speaks with a northern accent?) that no-one not commenting on here, had ever heard of before.
I thought the point of a reshuffle was to strengthen the party Leader’s standing within the party, instead it seems only to have exposed Jeremy’s weakness and vulnerability within in it.
Four years to go and we appear to have a dead duck shadow government staggering from one day to the next.
Corbyn's first reshuffle has come after less than four months in post. He has 52 months to the GE. At this rate, we should get another 12-14 reshuffles or so before then.
Assuming this one has finished by the GE. Jezza will probably be waiting for Doris in Nantwich to give her opinion on sacking Hilary Benn.
I'd have thought the mass robbery, rape and sexual assault on German women by 1000+ Muslim men in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne on New Year's Eve MIGHT have been worth a mensh.
It's now headline news across Europe. 5 days after it happened. Odd.
There have been quite a lot of articles in the press and online about sexual assaults in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere, particularly in some of the migrant camps, by migrant men.
As you say, the reaction has been somewhat "meh", as if (a) it's only what's to be expected; (b) it only happens to women so why get too bothered about it; and (3) if a fuss were made, there would be problems with the men and, even worse, something might have to be done.
It's an utter disgrace. Serious crimes are being committed and our more half-witted feminists are worried about having to read a possibly misogynistic poem at university or how to address a transgender person appearing on the cover of a magazine rather than real traumatic crimes committed against women and girls. This is why feminism has disappeared up its own f*nny.
There's a huge amount of displacement activity. The German and Swedish governments have done a serious disservice to their own people.
Labour have decided to skip the first part of "History repeats itself...". What on earth is going on with these numbskulls?
It's not clear how this qualifies as a reshuffle - basically it's taken him two days and god knows how many man hours to fire Michael Dugher. A politician (and authentic voice apparently; I assume that means he speaks with a northern accent?) that no-one not commenting on here, had ever heard of before.
We've heard of him - he's the one with the funny accent that is a far way from northern.
Collect all the shadow cabinet figurines from the Labour gift shop. – While stocks last.
Palpatine: Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Corbyn the Wise?
Anakin: No.
Palpatine: I thought not. It's not a story the Labour Party would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Corbyn was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create... Shadow Cabinet reshuffles! He had such a knowledge of the Daft Side, he could even keep the ones he cared about... from dying from boredom during periods of Opposition!
Anakin: He could actually...save people from boring themselves to death?
Palpatine: The Daft Side of the Force is a pathway to many policies some consider to be unelectable.
Anakin: What happened to him?
Palpatine: He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his political nous... which, eventually of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then his apprentice changed his policies while he was sleeping. Ironic. He could save others from obscurity... but not himself.
Ironic that, under the pre-2011 rules, it would have been the PLP who elected the shadow cabinet.
Ed really buggered it up for Labour didn't he!
To be fair, that was a sensible move in principle. It was a nonsense that a party leader couldn't pick his or her own top team. The dual mandates - leader from the party / cabinet from the PLP - was a recipe for tension and would have made the present situation even worse.
I'd have thought the mass robbery, rape and sexual assault on German women by 1000+ Muslim men in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne on New Year's Eve MIGHT have been worth a mensh.
It's now headline news across Europe. 5 days after it happened. Odd.
There have been quite a lot of articles in the press and online about sexual assaults in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere, particularly in some of the migrant camps, by migrant men.
As you say, the reaction has been somewhat "meh", as if (a) it's only what's to be expected; (b) it only happens to women so why get too bothered about it; and (3) if a fuss were made, there would be problems with the men and, even worse, something might have to be done.
It's an utter disgrace. Serious crimes are being committed and our more half-witted feminists are worried about having to read a possibly misogynistic poem at university or how to address a transgender person appearing on the cover of a magazine rather than real traumatic crimes committed against women and girls. This is why feminism has disappeared up its own f*nny.
There's a huge amount of displacement activity. The German and Swedish governments have done a serious disservice to their own people.
The women who have been assaulted should sue the German Federal government for negligence. They let these people into the country without any real checks and do not keep them under surveillance or separate from the general population. It is an outrage.
I've actually not been this glad for a Tory government in a long time, imagine if we had a Labour or Lab/SNP/LD government at the moment, we would be part of this quota system having to take in thousands of people who have no interest in being part of our society or living by our rules. At least there is some kind of vetting involved without method, even though I would say no to a single refugee from Syria and the surrounding nations, it is magnitudes better than what the rest of Europe have done.
Labour have decided to skip the first part of "History repeats itself...". What on earth is going on with these numbskulls?
It's not clear how this qualifies as a reshuffle - basically it's taken him two days and god knows how many man hours to fire Michael Dugher. A politician (and authentic voice apparently; I assume that means he speaks with a northern accent?) that no-one not commenting on here, had ever heard of before.
We've heard of him - he's the one with the funny accent that is a far way from northern.
I've never heard his voice I'm afraid. And my double negative assumed everyone here knows who he is (apart from me) - but nobody else does. I have to say I've become acquainted with more obscure Labour MPs and their political tribes in the last 4 months than I ever expected to.
Emily Ashton Jeremy Hunt starts reply to Heidi Alexander on doctors' strikes with wishing her "every success in retaining her post in the shadow cabinet"
I'd have thought the mass robbery, rape and sexual assault on German women by 1000+ Muslim men in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne on New Year's Eve MIGHT have been worth a mensh.
It's now headline news across Europe. 5 days after it happened. Odd.
There have been quite a lot of articles in the press and online about sexual assaults in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere, particularly in some of the migrant camps, by migrant men.
As you say, the reaction has been somewhat "meh", as if (a) it's only what's to be expected; (b) it only happens to women so why get too bothered about it; and (3) if a fuss were made, there would be problems with the men and, even worse, something might have to be done.
It's an utter disgrace. Serious crimes are being committed and our more half-witted feminists are worried about having to read a possibly misogynistic poem at university or how to address a transgender person appearing on the cover of a magazine rather than real traumatic crimes committed against women and girls. This is why feminism has disappeared up its own f*nny.
There's a huge amount of displacement activity. The German and Swedish governments have done a serious disservice to their own people.
The women who have been assaulted should sue the German Federal government for negligence. They let these people into the country without any real checks and do not keep them under surveillance or separate from the general population. It is an outrage.
I've actually not been this glad for a Tory government in a long time, imagine if we had a Labour or Lab/SNP/LD government at the moment, we would be part of this quota system having to take in thousands of people who have no interest in being part of our society or living by our rules. At least there is some kind of vetting involved without method, even though I would say no to a single refugee from Syria and the surrounding nations, it is magnitudes better than what the rest of Europe have done.
JJ in charge we would have all of Syria here by now. The good and the bad.
... We also learnt a poem every week - and could be called to recite it on Tuesday mornings. I still have great chunks of poetry in my head.
"Had we but world enough and time......"
Hang on, I thought you went to a good Catholic school where reciting that kind of stuff would get you into deep trouble...
Don't believe the stereotypes. The nuns at my primary school were ferocious believers in education for girls. - and very good at it. We were taught everything. I was a year ahead in maths when I joined my secondary school. They also enjoyed a good laugh and, based on what my parents told me, were rather fond of a drink as well. We used to have biology classes in the gardens of the school when the weather was fine so that we could actually learn about trees and plants close up and not just from books.
I learned "To His Coy Mistress" for A Level. It's a great poem. I remember being rather surprised to learn that it was written by a Puritan, but thinking about it, Puritans were never very puritanical when it came to sex. They were worked about keeping the Sabbath and worldly dancing.
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
Also second-most read story on the BBC news site. It'll be interesting to see what prominence it's given in the bulletins given the obvious public interest in the story.
I'd have thought the mass robbery, rape and sexual assault on German women by 1000+ Muslim men in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne on New Year's Eve MIGHT have been worth a mensh.
It's now headline news across Europe. 5 days after it happened. Odd.
There have been quite a lot of articles in the press and online about sexual assaults in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere, particularly in some of the migrant camps, by migrant men.
As you say, the reaction has been somewhat "meh", as if (a) it's only what's to be expected; (b) it only happens to women so why get too bothered about it; and (3) if a fuss were made, there would be problems with the men and, even worse, something might have to be done.
It's an utter disgrace. Serious crimes are being committed and our more half-witted feminists are worried about having to read a possibly misogynistic poem at university or how to address a transgender person appearing on the cover of a magazine rather than real traumatic crimes committed against women and girls. This is why feminism has disappeared up its own f*nny.
Quite, compare this to a few of our soldiers getting over excited in battle and being potentially prosecuted retrospectively. Incidentally, as a female you're in a position to comment on feminism, 50% of the population can't.
I was arguing on here the other day about pan-European culture, if that involves treating women like sex objects they can shove it. It's only a matter of time before vigilante groups appear.
When I was in my teens and early twenties, I kept graphs of the monthly Gallup opinion polls, as if it were an absolute and definitive measure of the real opinion of people at each monthly interval.
Now there are zillions of different polls from different organisations, and i have come to ignore most of them because they are a load of waffle. And out-of-date. And meaningless, because there isn't a real election happening most of the time.
I'd have thought the mass robbery, rape and sexual assault on German women by 1000+ Muslim men in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne on New Year's Eve MIGHT have been worth a mensh.
It's now headline news across Europe. 5 days after it happened. Odd.
There have been quite a lot of articles in the press and online about sexual assaults in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere, particularly in some of the migrant camps, by migrant men.
As you say, the reaction has been somewhat "meh", as if (a) it's only what's to be expected; (b) it only happens to women so why get too bothered about it; and (3) if a fuss were made, there would be problems with the men and, even worse, something might have to be done.
It's an utter disgrace. Serious crimes are being committed and our more half-witted feminists are worried about having to read a possibly misogynistic poem at university or how to address a transgender person appearing on the cover of a magazine rather than real traumatic crimes committed against women and girls. This is why feminism has disappeared up its own f*nny.
There's a huge amount of displacement activity. The German and Swedish governments have done a serious disservice to their own people.
Has this piece from Canadian Broadcasting done the rounds in the UK? Not assaults on women, but on Jews in Malmo. Similar meh reaction.
IF you drill down into the report 'one politician' claims this is the tip of the iceberg. If more come forward from other German cities, goodness.
Plus they are worried about the next celebration time in Germany, in February.
I guess this is how they plan on turning Germany into a Sharia society and keeping the women in doors...
How has our society become so infected with this SJW crap that we turn a blind eye to child rape and sexual abuse, it just seems unbelievable to me that ordinarily sensible people like Merkel can advocate these truly stupid policies and import over a million hostile, third world types who want to dismantle our society.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Twitter more concerned about Chris Gayle asking a reporter out for a drink and Rey being left out the new Star Wars monopoly.
All the important stuff. Know womenizing cricketer tries it on with reporter, as most men do every weekend around the world, and got the same result most do.
IF you drill down into the report 'one politician' claims this is the tip of the iceberg. If more come forward from other German cities, goodness.
Plus they are worried about the next celebration time in Germany, in February.
I guess this is how they plan on turning Germany into a Sharia society and keeping the women in doors...
How has our society become so infected with this SJW crap that we turn a blind eye to child rape and sexual abuse, it just seems unbelievable to me that ordinarily sensible people like Merkel can advocate these truly stupid policies and import over a million hostile, third world types who want to dismantle our society.
If you import people from the third world, expect third world attitudes to women, democracy and religion.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Its been quite well known for an awful long time. The whole Eastern Front was barbaric. Even in 1940 there were well know examples of British prisoners being murdered. I have heard a first hand report form one witness of one British soldier - the relative of one such victim - who post D-Day shot every German prisoner who came into his hands.
@MShapland: Understand Jeremy Corbyn has sent an all member email asking for feedback from Labour Members about whether he should sack Hillary Benn
Things have come to such a pass that I genuinely don't know whether that is satire or not.
Please be real - Best Reshuffle Eva
It would be hilarious - list all the shadow cabinet, people can vote for as many as they like, every 6 months the ones with the least votes get the sack. They'll be working hard, tht's for sure.
And unlike Mr Pack I say bring back daily YouGov polling!
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
IIRC, the Red Army was given the run of Berlin after its capture though. That alone produced in the region of 100,000 rapes.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
I know someone of Polish/German descent whose Polish grandmother said the Germans (whilst not nice) were 100 times better than the Russians. The Russians were just wholly uneducated brutes. Pulling taps out because they wanted to take the water with them and that sort of thing.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
If Corbyn is as terrible as people say on Labour's electoral prospects, then sooner or later that will be undeniable - there are only so many London Mayoral elections and not-so-bad locals someone that truly terrible could manage. If he is as bad as they say, even famously risk averse Labour will jettison him.
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Oh, without doubt, the Germans had done dreadful things in the Soviet Union. Many Red Army soldiers were thirsting for revenge for what their own families had suffered. And, I don't think there's any real point in passing judgement on them, unless one has been in that position oneself, and managed to rise above taking revenge.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
If Corbyn is as terrible as people say on Labour's electoral prospects, then sooner or later that will be undeniable - there are only so many London Mayoral elections and not-so-bad locals someone that truly terrible could manage. If he is as bad as they say, even famously risk averse Labour will jettison him.
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
Gordo got poll ratings down to mid 20%'s, lost most of the country in local elections and still nothing...
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
I read Berlin last year. Blinking heck, horrific stuff.
A lot of up-yours revenge went into that Soviet advance. The actions - especially the mass rape - are far from justifiable but after what the SS had done to them, you can almost understand the blood lust of the NKVD.
Reading books like that makes me realise how lucky I am. Geez - the whole book is littered with barbaric stuff.
In contrast, the Walter Wenck story at the end is inspiring. The young German general who led his troops back through the forest to rescue 250,000 Berlin civilians, knowing his troops would be eviscerated in the process. The bravery of him and other soldiers - on all sides - is awe-inspiring. Quite overwhelming to read.
It's easy to forget that many of the German soldiers did heroic things; the contrast between them and gutless, self-absorbed and delusional tyrants like Himmler is obvious.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Hmmmm.. yes but. The rape of Germany, and not just its women, was Soviet policy and actively encouraged by political officers within the Soviet Army. So yes some frontline troops did behave well but many, possibly the majority, did not. There was of course an element of revenge because the German army when it was going the other way were not exactly nice to the Russian populace, and never mind any nonsense that it was just the SS who were bad boys in that respect, the regular army had very dirty hands too.
Yet, in the West the Germans behaved, on the whole, very well. Probably, with a few notable exceptions, no worse than did the Brits, Canadians, and Americans as they entered Germany. the racial propaganda produced horrid effects.
... We also learnt a poem every week - and could be called to recite it on Tuesday mornings. I still have great chunks of poetry in my head.
"Had we but world enough and time......"
Hang on, I thought you went to a good Catholic school where reciting that kind of stuff would get you into deep trouble...
Don't believe the stereotypes. The nuns at my primary school were ferocious believers in education for girls. - and very good at it. We were taught everything. I was a year ahead in maths when I joined my secondary school. They also enjoyed a good laugh and, based on what my parents told me, were rather fond of a drink as well. We used to have biology classes in the gardens of the school when the weather was fine so that we could actually learn about trees and plants close up and not just from books.
I learned "To His Coy Mistress" for A Level. It's a great poem. I remember being rather surprised to learn that it was written by a Puritan, but thinking about it, Puritans were never very puritanical when it came to sex. They were worked about keeping the Sabbath and worldly dancing.
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
But, we were never taught Catullus or Martial.
Catullus, Martial and Ovid were perks of Latin O Level. The really risqué verses were left untranslated in the older textbooks, which gave an added incentive to do some extracurricular study.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
The PLP are irrelevant to the proceedings; they no longer possess the power to oust him even if they wanted to (or atleast, no power to oust him AND prevent him from then promptly being re-elected in a landslide).
The people who do have the power to remove him are the very people who put Corbyn there in the first place: the Soft Left in the membership. They will agree to a Corbyn coup if/when he is shown to be a huge liability in local elections, and when there's an alternative Labour leader who, even while more mainstream than Corbyn, nonetheless still has some rock-solid principles they never sacrifice (for example, always voting against cuts to benefit-claimants).
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Hmmmm.. yes but. The rape of Germany, and not just its women, was Soviet policy and actively encouraged by political officers within the Soviet Army. So yes some frontline troops did behave well but many, possibly the majority, did not. There was of course an element of revenge because the German army when it was going the other way were not exactly nice to the Russian populace, and never mind any nonsense that it was just the SS who were bad boys in that respect, the regular army had very dirty hands too.
Yet, in the West the Germans behaved, on the whole, very well. Probably, with a few notable exceptions, no worse than did the Brits, Canadians, and Americans as they entered Germany. the racial propaganda produced horrid effects.
War turns men into savages, nobody is blameless. What concerns me is the authorities seemingly turning a blind eye to what is going on right now, under our noses. Its time we stopped treating people according to their culture or beliefs and treated everybody equally under the law. As others have pointed out, why the outrage over Hamburg when far worse has and probably still is going on in Rotherham, Oxford etc.
This will end badly, hardly a prescient statement.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
I read Berlin last year. Blinking heck, horrific stuff.
... et...
Yes fair points. But also (no excuses) the Russian High Command cared little for the lives of their own soldiers and the Russian advances suffered heavy losses. Not least I think in the final weeks when they were desperate to capture Berlin.
Never mind how many Eagles you have in your party, we think you have all worked out you have an albatross as leader of your party. Cameron to Corbyn just now!!!
Amongst all the new right hothead stuff on the Breitbart site is the new Cruz political advert. It's worth seeing, if only as an indication of the political mood across the pond.
Camos great at PB in-jokes - but ti's not much help to you when you're sweating your ass off in the pub trying to sup your pint is it?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
... We also learnt a poem every week - and could be called to recite it on Tuesday mornings. I still have great chunks of poetry in my head.
"Had we but world enough and time......"
Hang on, I thought you went to a good Catholic school where reciting that kind of stuff would get you into deep trouble...
Don't believe the stereotypes. The nuns at my primary school were ferocious believers in education for girls. - and very good at it. We were taught everything. I was a year ahead in maths when I joined my secondary school. They also enjoyed a good laugh and, based on what my parents told me, were rather fond of a drink as well. We used to have biology classes in the gardens of the school when the weather was fine so that we could actually learn about trees and plants close up and not just from books.
I learned "To His Coy Mistress" for A Level. It's a great poem. I remember being rather surprised to learn that it was written by a Puritan, but thinking about it, Puritans were never very puritanical when it came to sex. They were worked about keeping the Sabbath and worldly dancing.
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
But, we were never taught Catullus or Martial.
Catullus, Martial and Ovid were perks of Latin O Level. The really risqué verses were left untranslated in the older textbooks, which gave an added incentive to do some extracurricular study.
We did MacBeth for O level and the Porter's scene did not appear in the copy of the text we were given to study. The first we knew of it was when the school organised had an outing to a live performance of the play. Ninety boys were gobsmacked and most of us looked at Shakespeare with a new light thereafter. Our English master took some stick though, why were we being taught a censored version, what else was being hidden from us etc. etc..
Not the Master's fault of course and, being the great teacher he was, he diverted us by a bridge puzzle that had appeared in that day's Times (a tricky 4 Spades, makeable but only by the right play to find the Queen of Hearts as I recall).
... We also learnt a poem every week - and could be called to recite it on Tuesday mornings. I still have great chunks of poetry in my head.
"Had we but world enough and time......"
Hang on, I thought you went to a good Catholic school where reciting that kind of stuff would get you into deep trouble...
Don't believe the stereotypes. The nuns at my primary school were ferocious believers in education for girls. - and very good at it. We were taught everything. I was a year ahead in maths when I joined my secondary school. They also enjoyed a good laugh and, based on what my parents told me, were rather fond of a drink as well. We used to have biology classes in the gardens of the school when the weather was fine so that we could actually learn about trees and plants close up and not just from books.
I learned "To His Coy Mistress" for A Level. It's a great poem. I remember being rather surprised to learn that it was written by a Puritan, but thinking about it, Puritans were never very puritanical when it came to sex. They were worked about keeping the Sabbath and worldly dancing.
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
But, we were never taught Catullus or Martial.
Catullus, Martial and Ovid were perks of Latin O Level. The really risqué verses were left untranslated in the older textbooks, which gave an added incentive to do some extracurricular study.
I think we did Ovid for O Level. Definitely not the other two.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
That record:
MacDonald - the only such example, after extreme provocation to Labour
The rest:
Henderson - resigned a year after losing his seat in parliament Lansbury - resigned on realising that he really wasn't up to it (arguably a second instance) Attlee - resigned after losing a second election Gaitskell - died in office Wilson - resigned on his own terms Callaghan - resigned a year after losing the election Foot - resigned after losing the election Kinnock - resigned after losing his second election Smith - Died in office Blair - resigned under some pressure but broadly on his own terms Brown - resigned after losing an election Miliband - resigned after losing an election
Nearly a hundred years and at most three have been forced out against their will. As a minimum, one - and he'd already set up camp with the Tories.
... We also learnt a poem every week - and could be called to recite it on Tuesday mornings. I still have great chunks of poetry in my head.
"Had we but world enough and time......"
Hang on, I thought you went to a good Catholic school where reciting that kind of stuff would get you into deep trouble...
Don't believe the stereotypes. The nuns at my primary school were ferocious believers in education for girls. - and very good at it. We were taught everything. I was a year ahead in maths when I joined my secondary school. They also enjoyed a good laugh and, based on what my parents told me, were rather fond of a drink as well. We used to have biology classes in the gardens of the school when the weather was fine so that we could actually learn about trees and plants close up and not just from books.
I learned "To His Coy Mistress" for A Level. It's a great poem. I remember being rather surprised to learn that it was written by a Puritan, but thinking about it, Puritans were never very puritanical when it came to sex. They were worked about keeping the Sabbath and worldly dancing.
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
But, we were never taught Catullus or Martial.
Catullus, Martial and Ovid were perks of Latin O Level. The really risqué verses were left untranslated in the older textbooks, which gave an added incentive to do some extracurricular study.
We did MacBeth for O level and the Porter's scene did not appear in the copy of the text we were given to study. The first we knew of it was when the school organised had an outing to a live performance of the play. Ninety boys were gobsmacked and most of us looked at Shakespeare with a new light thereafter. Our English master took some stick though, why were we being taught a censored version, what else was being hidden from us etc. etc..
Not the Master's fault of course and, being the great teacher he was, he diverted us by a bridge puzzle that had appeared in that day's Times (a tricky 4 Spades, makeable but only by the right play to find the Queen of Hearts as I recall).
I only discovered a couple of years ago, when I reread The Three Musketeers, that the version we had in the School library had been heavily censored.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
If Corbyn is as terrible as people say on Labour's electoral prospects, then sooner or later that will be undeniable - there are only so many London Mayoral elections and not-so-bad locals someone that truly terrible could manage. If he is as bad as they say, even famously risk averse Labour will jettison him.
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
Gordo got poll ratings down to mid 20%'s, lost most of the country in local elections and still nothing...
Labour's lowest poll rating under Brown was 18%. It'll be in Mark's list. For a while in May 2009, Labour was *averaging* in the low 20s.
... We also learnt a poem every week - and could be called to recite it on Tuesday mornings. I still have great chunks of poetry in my head.
"Had we but world enough and time......"
Hang on, I thought you went to a good Catholic school where reciting that kind of stuff would get you into deep trouble...
Don't believe the stereotypes. The nuns at my primary school were ferocious believers in education for girls. - and very good at it. We were taught everything. I was a year ahead in maths when I joined my secondary school. They also enjoyed a good laugh and, based on what my parents told me, were rather fond of a drink as well. We used to have biology classes in the gardens of the school when the weather was fine so that we could actually learn about trees and plants close up and not just from books.
I learned "To His Coy Mistress" for A Level. It's a great poem. I remember being rather surprised to learn that it was written by a Puritan, but thinking about it, Puritans were never very puritanical when it came to sex. They were worked about keeping the Sabbath and worldly dancing.
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
But, we were never taught Catullus or Martial.
Catullus, Martial and Ovid were perks of Latin O Level. The really risqué verses were left untranslated in the older textbooks, which gave an added incentive to do some extracurricular study.
We did MacBeth for O level and the Porter's scene did not appear in the copy of the text we were given to study. The first we knew of it was when the school organised had an outing to a live performance of the play. Ninety boys were gobsmacked and most of us looked at Shakespeare with a new light thereafter. Our English master took some stick though, why were we being taught a censored version, what else was being hidden from us etc. etc..
Not the Master's fault of course and, being the great teacher he was, he diverted us by a bridge puzzle that had appeared in that day's Times (a tricky 4 Spades, makeable but only by the right play to find the Queen of Hearts as I recall).
I only discovered a couple of years ago, when I reread The Three Musketeers, that the version we had in the School library had been heavily censored.
Our school library had a copy of Leonard Cohen's 'Beautiful Losers'. Check it out if you don't know why that was highly inappropriate.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
If Corbyn is as terrible as people say on Labour's electoral prospects, then sooner or later that will be undeniable - there are only so many London Mayoral elections and not-so-bad locals someone that truly terrible could manage. If he is as bad as they say, even famously risk averse Labour will jettison him.
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
Gordo got poll ratings down to mid 20%'s, lost most of the country in local elections and still nothing...
Labour's lowest poll rating under Brown was 18%. It'll be in Mark's list. For a while in May 2009, Labour was *averaging* in the low 20s.
The difference is that, unlike Corbyn, Brown's power base was very much among MPs, and he had received North Korean levels of support from the PLP in what passed for the leadership "contest"; few politicians are going to publicly eat humble pie and admit they made the wrong decision just a couple of years earlier. But with Corbyn, needless to say that for the vast majority of the PLP it would not involve eating humble pie for them to say Corbyn had to go.
There really is no question at all this time that the PLP would be "brave" enough to oust Corbyn if they thought it would be successful.
''It was, briefly, and then it was swept under the carpet. Anthony Beevor's book caused a massive storm in Russia. ''
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Hmmmm.. yes but. The rape of Germany, and not just its women, was Soviet policy and actively encouraged by political officers within the Soviet Army. So yes some frontline troops did behave well but many, possibly the majority, did not. There was of course an element of revenge because the German army when it was going the other way were not exactly nice to the Russian populace, and never mind any nonsense that it was just the SS who were bad boys in that respect, the regular army had very dirty hands too.
Yet, in the West the Germans behaved, on the whole, very well. Probably, with a few notable exceptions, no worse than did the Brits, Canadians, and Americans as they entered Germany. the racial propaganda produced horrid effects.
War turns men into savages, nobody is blameless. What concerns me is the authorities seemingly turning a blind eye to what is going on right now, under our noses. Its time we stopped treating people according to their culture or beliefs and treated everybody equally under the law. As others have pointed out, why the outrage over Hamburg when far worse has and probably still is going on in Rotherham, Oxford etc.
This will end badly, hardly a prescient statement.
"... Its time we stopped treating people according to their culture or beliefs and treated everybody equally under the law ..."
Report for Diversity Training forthwith, Mr. 63. There will you discover that everyone must be treated according to their needs. The whole thing of treating people equally, or God forbid, treating others as you would like to be treated is just disguised racism/homophobia/sexism/islamophobia/transgenderophobia of any other such nonsense.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
If Corbyn is as terrible as people say on Labour's electoral prospects, then sooner or later that will be undeniable - there are only so many London Mayoral elections and not-so-bad locals someone that truly terrible could manage. If he is as bad as they say, even famously risk averse Labour will jettison him.
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
Gordo got poll ratings down to mid 20%'s, lost most of the country in local elections and still nothing...
Labour's lowest poll rating under Brown was 18%. It'll be in Mark's list. For a while in May 2009, Labour was *averaging* in the low 20s.
The difference is that, unlike Corbyn, Brown's power base was very much among MPs, and he had received North Korean levels of support from the PLP in what passed for the leadership "contest"; few politicians are going to publicly eat humble pie and admit they made the wrong decision just a couple of years earlier. But with Corbyn, needless to say that for the vast majority of the PLP it would not involve eating humble pie for them to say Corbyn had to go.
Oh, indeed. But there still remains the question of 'how'? They also need to be sure that the membership and friends won't put him or someone like him back.
But equally, since we now know how leader-focussed the average floating voter is, opinion polls now when atleast one (quite possibly both) of the two main party leaders will not still be in post by the next election, are not much use.
You seem very confident JJ will be gone by the GE. The Labour party haven't exactly got a stellar record in removing leaders and the current crop of PLP'ers are utterly spineless.
If Corbyn is as terrible as people say on Labour's electoral prospects, then sooner or later that will be undeniable - there are only so many London Mayoral elections and not-so-bad locals someone that truly terrible could manage. If he is as bad as they say, even famously risk averse Labour will jettison him.
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
Gordo got poll ratings down to mid 20%'s, lost most of the country in local elections and still nothing...
Labour's lowest poll rating under Brown was 18%. It'll be in Mark's list. For a while in May 2009, Labour was *averaging* in the low 20s.
The difference is that, unlike Corbyn, Brown's power base was very much among MPs, and he had received North Korean levels of support from the PLP in what passed for the leadership "contest"; few politicians are going to publicly eat humble pie and admit they made the wrong decision just a couple of years earlier. But with Corbyn, needless to say that for the vast majority of the PLP it would not involve eating humble pie for them to say Corbyn had to go.
Oh, indeed. But there still remains the question of 'how'? They also need to be sure that the membership and friends won't put him or someone like him back.
Sure, but my point is more addressed to the people asking why the PLP aren't "doing something" to remove Corbyn. The reality is they have no ability to do something unless/until they get the agreement of the membership. It's not a question of willingness or "spine".
To my mind TFA is only bettered by TESB. It probably falls behind ANH in terms of cinematic experience but that is only because ANH was so original and watching it was such an exciting and new thrill. TFA gets better every time you watch it even having started from a high mark.
Comments
The BBC report on the events in Germany is here.
Anakin: No.
Palpatine: I thought not. It's not a story the Labour Party would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Corbyn was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create... Shadow Cabinet reshuffles! He had such a knowledge of the Daft Side, he could even keep the ones he cared about... from dying from boredom during periods of Opposition!
Anakin: He could actually...save people from boring themselves to death?
Palpatine: The Daft Side of the Force is a pathway to many policies some consider to be unelectable.
Anakin: What happened to him?
Palpatine: He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his political nous... which, eventually of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then his apprentice changed his policies while he was sleeping. Ironic. He could save others from obscurity... but not himself.
Anakin: Is it possible to learn this power?
Palpatine: Not from a Socialist...
IF you drill down into the report 'one politician' claims this is the tip of the iceberg. If more come forward from other German cities, goodness.
Plus they are worried about the next celebration time in Germany, in February.
I've actually not been this glad for a Tory government in a long time, imagine if we had a Labour or Lab/SNP/LD government at the moment, we would be part of this quota system having to take in thousands of people who have no interest in being part of our society or living by our rules. At least there is some kind of vetting involved without method, even though I would say no to a single refugee from Syria and the surrounding nations, it is magnitudes better than what the rest of Europe have done.
Jeremy Hunt starts reply to Heidi Alexander on doctors' strikes with wishing her "every success in retaining her post in the shadow cabinet"
We also learned The Miller's Tale (I remember there was an annual campaign to get it banned from the curriculum).
But, we were never taught Catullus or Martial.
I was arguing on here the other day about pan-European culture, if that involves treating women like sex objects they can shove it. It's only a matter of time before vigilante groups appear.
Now there are zillions of different polls from different organisations, and i have come to ignore most of them because they are a load of waffle. And out-of-date. And meaningless, because there isn't a real election happening most of the time.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/anti-semitism-in-malmö-reveals-flaws-in-swedish-immigration-system-1.3080484
How has our society become so infected with this SJW crap that we turn a blind eye to child rape and sexual abuse, it just seems unbelievable to me that ordinarily sensible people like Merkel can advocate these truly stupid policies and import over a million hostile, third world types who want to dismantle our society.
The Russians were brutalised by liberating thousands of villages and towns occupied by the Germans. Goodness knows what sights they must have seen, bit even so,
According to Beevor the Russian front line troops were often well behaved. It was the NKVD scum that came behind them that were often the real perpetrators.
Even in 1940 there were well know examples of British prisoners being murdered. I have heard a first hand report form one witness of one British soldier - the relative of one such victim - who post D-Day shot every German prisoner who came into his hands.
And unlike Mr Pack I say bring back daily YouGov polling!
If expected electoral drubbings never emerge to the extent people say, then he might well remain in place, because clearly he won't have been as terrible as people predicted (though probably still too poor to win a GE)
A lot of up-yours revenge went into that Soviet advance. The actions - especially the mass rape - are far from justifiable but after what the SS had done to them, you can almost understand the blood lust of the NKVD.
Reading books like that makes me realise how lucky I am. Geez - the whole book is littered with barbaric stuff.
In contrast, the Walter Wenck story at the end is inspiring. The young German general who led his troops back through the forest to rescue 250,000 Berlin civilians, knowing his troops would be eviscerated in the process. The bravery of him and other soldiers - on all sides - is awe-inspiring. Quite overwhelming to read.
It's easy to forget that many of the German soldiers did heroic things; the contrast between them and gutless, self-absorbed and delusional tyrants like Himmler is obvious.
Yet, in the West the Germans behaved, on the whole, very well. Probably, with a few notable exceptions, no worse than did the Brits, Canadians, and Americans as they entered Germany. the racial propaganda produced horrid effects.
The people who do have the power to remove him are the very people who put Corbyn there in the first place: the Soft Left in the membership. They will agree to a Corbyn coup if/when he is shown to be a huge liability in local elections, and when there's an alternative Labour leader who, even while more mainstream than Corbyn, nonetheless still has some rock-solid principles they never sacrifice (for example, always voting against cuts to benefit-claimants).
This will end badly, hardly a prescient statement.
Corbyn tells the House that he learned that many European leaders have v.g. grasp of British politics. "Unlike you!" shouts one Tory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4YBd8xEn58
Cameron "you could have watched the entire run of Star Wars movies" while waiting for Corbyn reshuffle.
But also (no excuses) the Russian High Command cared little for the lives of their own soldiers and the Russian advances suffered heavy losses. Not least I think in the final weeks when they were desperate to capture Berlin.
Otherwise you could get some very interesting contortions!
Not the Master's fault of course and, being the great teacher he was, he diverted us by a bridge puzzle that had appeared in that day's Times (a tricky 4 Spades, makeable but only by the right play to find the Queen of Hearts as I recall).
Corbyn looks absolutely furious
If you enter the UK illegally from a safe country you can stay here and be housed and fed.
I wonder how much money we'd save if we closed down the Border Force, it would certainly save a lot of hassle.
Article with first hand accounts from Germany's biggest feminist magazine. Pretty awful stuff.
MacDonald - the only such example, after extreme provocation to Labour
The rest:
Henderson - resigned a year after losing his seat in parliament
Lansbury - resigned on realising that he really wasn't up to it (arguably a second instance)
Attlee - resigned after losing a second election
Gaitskell - died in office
Wilson - resigned on his own terms
Callaghan - resigned a year after losing the election
Foot - resigned after losing the election
Kinnock - resigned after losing his second election
Smith - Died in office
Blair - resigned under some pressure but broadly on his own terms
Brown - resigned after losing an election
Miliband - resigned after losing an election
Nearly a hundred years and at most three have been forced out against their will. As a minimum, one - and he'd already set up camp with the Tories.
There really is no question at all this time that the PLP would be "brave" enough to oust Corbyn if they thought it would be successful.
Report for Diversity Training forthwith, Mr. 63. There will you discover that everyone must be treated according to their needs. The whole thing of treating people equally, or God forbid, treating others as you would like to be treated is just disguised racism/homophobia/sexism/islamophobia/transgenderophobia of any other such nonsense.
Tories killing themselves laughing when Corbyn says in politics 'you need friends' - stony faces on Labour benches