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  • kle4kle4 Posts: 97,052
    The only thing I know about Bhutan is that it only reversed a ban on TV in the 90s, or so I heard. The monsters.

    ALthough presumably that means their other distractions must bepretty good.
  • Hertsmere_PubgoerHertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    AndyJS said:

    Smoking was banned in tube trains in 1984 and banned altogether on platforms, escalators, ticket offices, etc 6. months before the Kings Cross disaster (as part of a trial period). So the person smoking the cigarette that started the fire was breaking the law. They never identified who it was.

    For the record, even though I was a smoker at the time and in the vicinity at the right time. It wasn't me.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    rcs1000 said:

    TGOHF said:

    CoE is a joke - will be dead within a generation

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12115434/Vicars-should-grow-beards-to-reach-out-to-Muslims-bishop-suggests.html

    "Vicars should grow beards to reach out to Muslims, bishop suggests "

    I reckon they should also get tattoos so they can reach out to Hipsters.
    I always thought that The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres was one of the more sensible bishops of the CoE, and would have made a perfect Archbishop of Canterbury, just shows you how wrong I was.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,598
    SeanT said:

    ON topic

    Has anyone been to Bhutan?

    I have a Times travel commission to go there and write about it in March, which is v nice, as it's a lifelong ambition... but neither me nor my editor know much about it, and she's telling me I can choose where to go. But I haven't the foggiest what's good, bad, tastic or tasteless.

    Advice welcome.

    I don't, but a friend knows it well, I believe. I'll ask him.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Aren't they the first/only country to ban tobacco?
    kle4 said:

    The only thing I know about Bhutan is that it only reversed a ban on TV in the 90s, or so I heard. The monsters.

    ALthough presumably that means their other distractions must bepretty good.

  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649
    SeanT said:

    ON topic

    Has anyone been to Bhutan?

    I have a Times travel commission to go there and write about it in March, which is v nice, as it's a lifelong ambition... but neither me nor my editor know much about it, and she's telling me I can choose where to go. But I haven't the foggiest what's good, bad, tastic or tasteless.

    Advice welcome.

    Aren't they very restrictive about how many tourist visas they issue?

    High on my bucket list.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    There's an excellent book with some great background on Trump here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AX111Q2) that fills in some important information
  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649
    watford30 said:

    pbr2013 said:

    Politics was a big thing in our house during my childhood in the 70s, coming from a poor family in Leicester, but I can honestly say I was never touched by it, and I feel sorry for you poor 7 year olds who were discussing your hatred of whatever government was in charge at the time!
    The thing that affected me the most was an overall sense of doom over nuclear war. I still feel a creeping unease, a sort of throwback feeling tingling up my spine, when I watch the 70s and early 80s public info films and TV programmes such as panorama and Horizon discussing how to react if the warning went off.

    Growing up in Leeds in the 70s, in the 4 minute warning days, we had an air raid siren located next to my school. They tested it every couple of months or so, usually in the mornings. WW2 sounding siren. The teacher would say "not to worry, it's only a test" but you could see in his eyes that he was a bit freaked out.

    Probably the best thing that came out of the defeat of communism for us is that the current generation of young people don't have that cloud over their heads. Long may it stay that way.
    If the wind's blowing in the right direction, I can hear the Air Raid sirens surrounding Broadmoor that signal that an inmate has escaped, when they're tested every Monday morning. Unnerving even now.
    Don't worry, it'll probably be someone harmless like London Bob. A shot of vodka and he'll be right as rain.
  • Last sentence: 'uncharted' not 'unchartered'!
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,062
    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    edited 2016 22
    pbr2013 said:

    watford30 said:

    pbr2013 said:

    Politics was a big thing in our house during my childhood in the 70s, coming from a poor family in Leicester, but I can honestly say I was never touched by it, and I feel sorry for you poor 7 year olds who were discussing your hatred of whatever government was in charge at the time!
    The thing that affected me the most was an overall sense of doom over nuclear war. I still feel a creeping unease, a sort of throwback feeling tingling up my spine, when I watch the 70s and early 80s public info films and TV programmes such as panorama and Horizon discussing how to react if the warning went off.

    Growing up in Leeds in the 70s, in the 4 minute warning days, we had an air raid siren located next to my school. They tested it every couple of months or so, usually in the mornings. WW2 sounding siren. The teacher would say "not to worry, it's only a test" but you could see in his eyes that he was a bit freaked out.

    Probably the best thing that came out of the defeat of communism for us is that the current generation of young people don't have that cloud over their heads. Long may it stay that way.
    If the wind's blowing in the right direction, I can hear the Air Raid sirens surrounding Broadmoor that signal that an inmate has escaped, when they're tested every Monday morning. Unnerving even now.
    Don't worry, it'll probably be someone harmless like London Bob. A shot of vodka and he'll be right as rain.
    Don't worry: ЛондонBob is safe in his St Peterberg office.
  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649
    AndyJS said:

    Smoking was banned in tube trains in 1984 and banned altogether on platforms, escalators, ticket offices, etc 6. months before the Kings Cross disaster (as part of a trial period). So the person smoking the cigarette that started the fire was breaking the law. They never identified who it was.

    I went through KX about an hour before. Sketchy recollections but I had always thought that they never were able to actually pin it on a stray fag butt. Wasn't there an alternative theory that the escalator mechanism was coated in decades of grease/grime and friction could have set it off?
  • Moses_Moses_ Posts: 4,865
    This may be extreme views at the moment but this is the way it is going. It's not the fault of Muslims ever it's the fault of everyone else and to stop Muslims acting illegally then ban for example alcohol across a whole country or dressing how these North Africans are not used too.
    It is depressing at how the west is sleep walking into complete disaster and accepting "caliphate creep". There is absolutely no effort really to identify fault with those that perpetrate such crimes or even to accommodate other views only the view that you westerners must change to accommodate us now arriving in your country.

    "Germany needs to ban alcohol if it wants to prevent further sexual violence and to help North African migrants integrate into society, a Muslim pressure group has claimed.

    Commenting on the Cologne sex-attack controversy, MuslimStern, which has 20,000 followers on Facebook, said its mission was to 'highlight the way the media was using the incidents to promote racism against minorities'. The group complained that the female victims had brought the unwanted attention to themselves by dressing in a manner that North African men were not accustomed to"


    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3411641/Germans-ban-ALCOHOL-want-prevent-sex-attacks-help-North-Africans-integrate-says-Muslim-group.html#ixzz3xzvykcoF
  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    SeanT said:

    ON topic

    Has anyone been to Bhutan?

    I have a Times travel commission to go there and write about it in March, which is v nice, as it's a lifelong ambition... but neither me nor my editor know much about it, and she's telling me I can choose where to go. But I haven't the foggiest what's good, bad, tastic or tasteless.

    Advice welcome.

    It was one of only three places in the world that has a more disproportional electoral system than our own... (the other two are Botswana and Belize)
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,738
    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    To this day I remain astounded that Barney the Dinosaur has never had a nomination let alone an Oscar.
  • watford30 said:

    pbr2013 said:

    Politics was a big thing in our house during my childhood in the 70s, coming from a poor family in Leicester, but I can honestly say I was never touched by it, and I feel sorry for you poor 7 year olds who were discussing your hatred of whatever government was in charge at the time!
    The thing that affected me the most was an overall sense of doom over nuclear war. I still feel a creeping unease, a sort of throwback feeling tingling up my spine, when I watch the 70s and early 80s public info films and TV programmes such as panorama and Horizon discussing how to react if the warning went off.

    Growing up in Leeds in the 70s, in the 4 minute warning days, we had an air raid siren located next to my school. They tested it every couple of months or so, usually in the mornings. WW2 sounding siren. The teacher would say "not to worry, it's only a test" but you could see in his eyes that he was a bit freaked out.

    Probably the best thing that came out of the defeat of communism for us is that the current generation of young people don't have that cloud over their heads. Long may it stay that way.
    If the wind's blowing in the right direction, I can hear the Air Raid sirens surrounding Broadmoor that signal that an inmate has escaped, when they're tested every Monday morning. Unnerving even now.
    Our station bells are a sort of intruder alert klaxon sound. The bugger of it is that the very same siren is on loads of adverts, cartoons, TV and films and music videos. Drives the wife nuts when it sounds on the telly, and I jump up, looking for a pole to slide down.......
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,833
    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Brilliant book. I am looking forward to seeing how they have turned it into a film.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Welcome to PB

    Last sentence: 'uncharted' not 'unchartered'!

  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,624
    edited 2016 22
    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    1 - Good to see they haven't excluded you.
    2 - Only a moron suggests that Brown started the crash, the debate is about the state of the finances to withstand any such deviation from the "no more boom and bust" and also regulation of the sector. See Canada, Australia and Denmark as countries that foresaw some slow down and generally kept things in a better shape, so far better prepared than most and weathered the effects.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,553
    Patrick said:

    SeanT said:

    EdStone -monument cost the party £8,000, including £180 for twelve week's storage, £1,575 for haulage costs and £270 to have a mason in attendance.

    Well worth the cost, just for the laughs alone. – Still scratching my head as to how such a ridiculous proposal was ever mooted during the campaign, let alone revealed to an audience.

    People, including me, didn't realise the Iraq War was ridiculous - and catastrophic - until about three years after it was launched. The process of getting there, erroneous groupthink, was similar, but the outcome was significantly more depressing.
    But you and your MP were lied to by the Prime Minister. Blatantly. There were actually no WMDs as the 'dodgy dossier' alleged and there were no proper post-conflict plans as his Toniness assured us there were. Those, including me, who were supportive did so on the 'I now realise was profoundly and stupidly naïve' belief that a sitting British PM could not and would not do that. It was a rational view given the info we had. The outrage is that Blair still hasn't been skinned alive and dipped in lemon juice for it.
    Yeah, no blame attached.
    Assorted Libdems, Nats and future Corbynistas 'irrationally' saw through the guff while you 'rationally' sucked it up.
  • TCPoliticalBettingTCPoliticalBetting Posts: 10,819
    Roger said:

    Completely OT.
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it

    A. Brown boasted he had abolished boom and bust.
    "Under this Government, Britain will not return to the boom and bust of the past." Pre-Budget Report, 9th November 1999.
    If he can take the credit for being so influential that it is abolished, he has to take part of the blame when there was a bust. Or at the very least being stupid enough to believe his own importance.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,138
    Mr. Moses, something cannot be 'quite' unique. It's unique (a one-off, individual, distinct rarity of one instance) or it isn't.

    Mr. Squire, welcome to pb.com.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    watford30 said:

    pbr2013 said:

    Politics was a big thing in our house during my childhood in the 70s, coming from a poor family in Leicester, but I can honestly say I was never touched by it, and I feel sorry for you poor 7 year olds who were discussing your hatred of whatever government was in charge at the time!
    The thing that affected me the most was an overall sense of doom over nuclear war. I still feel a creeping unease, a sort of throwback feeling tingling up my spine, when I watch the 70s and early 80s public info films and TV programmes such as panorama and Horizon discussing how to react if the warning went off.

    Growing up in Leeds in the 70s, in the 4 minute warning days, we had an air raid siren located next to my school. They tested it every couple of months or so, usually in the mornings. WW2 sounding siren. The teacher would say "not to worry, it's only a test" but you could see in his eyes that he was a bit freaked out.

    Probably the best thing that came out of the defeat of communism for us is that the current generation of young people don't have that cloud over their heads. Long may it stay that way.
    If the wind's blowing in the right direction, I can hear the Air Raid sirens surrounding Broadmoor that signal that an inmate has escaped, when they're tested every Monday morning. Unnerving even now.
    Our station bells are a sort of intruder alert klaxon sound. The bugger of it is that the very same siren is on loads of adverts, cartoons, TV and films and music videos. Drives the wife nuts when it sounds on the telly, and I jump up, looking for a pole to slide down.......
    I am glad that despite all the changes, firefighters still like a slippery pole!
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,624
    A man cleared of raping a woman has been ordered to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35385227
  • watford30watford30 Posts: 3,474

    watford30 said:

    pbr2013 said:

    Politics was a big thing in our house during my childhood in the 70s, coming from a poor family in Leicester, but I can honestly say I was never touched by it, and I feel sorry for you poor 7 year olds who were discussing your hatred of whatever government was in charge at the time!
    The thing that affected me the most was an overall sense of doom over nuclear war. I still feel a creeping unease, a sort of throwback feeling tingling up my spine, when I watch the 70s and early 80s public info films and TV programmes such as panorama and Horizon discussing how to react if the warning went off.

    Growing up in Leeds in the 70s, in the 4 minute warning days, we had an air raid siren located next to my school. They tested it every couple of months or so, usually in the mornings. WW2 sounding siren. The teacher would say "not to worry, it's only a test" but you could see in his eyes that he was a bit freaked out.

    Probably the best thing that came out of the defeat of communism for us is that the current generation of young people don't have that cloud over their heads. Long may it stay that way.
    If the wind's blowing in the right direction, I can hear the Air Raid sirens surrounding Broadmoor that signal that an inmate has escaped, when they're tested every Monday morning. Unnerving even now.
    Our station bells are a sort of intruder alert klaxon sound. The bugger of it is that the very same siren is on loads of adverts, cartoons, TV and films and music videos. Drives the wife nuts when it sounds on the telly, and I jump up, looking for a pole to slide down.......
    Ha Ha.

    The problem with the Broadmoor sirens, is that a few aren't functioning correctly, and occasionally they make the full on 'Megaton Death, Incoming' noise, rather than the two tone 'Loony on the Loose' sound.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,138
    Mr. Urquhart, so, he's innocent... but needs to give the police notice before he has sex. Unless it's with a man.

    And if he has sex without giving them warning (with a woman), he could be jailed?

    Not sure that's an optimal approach to justice.
  • A man cleared of raping a woman has been ordered to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35385227

    Without knowing the details of the case, that does seem a barmy order.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    Jim Pickard
    Value of FTSE100 has risen by about £50bn (give or take) since Damian advised us to stock up on tinned food... https://t.co/3U4ittItw5

    Snort

    http://www.alexcartoon.com/index.cfm?cartoons_id=5059
    Royal Bank of Caledonia was one of their more inspired attempts to disguise who they were talking about.

    Although I did rather like the proposed merger between Uberbank and Kindling a few years ago...
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    edited 2016 22
    MikeK said:

    rcs1000 said:

    TGOHF said:

    CoE is a joke - will be dead within a generation

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12115434/Vicars-should-grow-beards-to-reach-out-to-Muslims-bishop-suggests.html

    "Vicars should grow beards to reach out to Muslims, bishop suggests "

    I reckon they should also get tattoos so they can reach out to Hipsters.
    I always thought that The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres was one of the more sensible bishops of the CoE, and would have made a perfect Archbishop of Canterbury, just shows you how wrong I was.
    Limp handshake.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 61,451

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    1 - Good to see they haven't excluded you.
    2 - Only a moron suggests that Brown started the crash, the debate is about the state of the finances to withstand any such deviation from the "no more boom and bust" and also regulation of the sector. See Canada, Australia and Denmark as countries that foresaw some slow down and generally kept things in a better shape, so far better prepared than most and weathered the effects.
    That's exactly it.

    I'm really sick of tired of Labour constantly shooting down this straw man that they were responsible for the Credit Crunch.

    The criticism is that they were responsible for the regulation of the financial industry that might have helped facilitate it and that they were too interested in creaming off the money from it - and running a deficit at the same time - to challenge it. All the time never letting off the hubris of having abolished the economic cycle.

    The fact that they doubled down on doing the same thing *after* the credit crunch was in full swing - partly out of spite and scorched earth policy - made matters worse.

    They were reckless with regulation and reckless with the public finances and still show no signs of having learnt their lesson.
  • volcanopetevolcanopete Posts: 2,078
    I just don't think Labour will ever elect a woman leader until there is an AWS for the leadership.
    On Europe,Dave is not coming back in February with a piece of paper,he will flail his emergency brake around,the emergency brake to secure remain and remain is signed,sealed and delivered.All it needed was an emergency brake.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?
  • Moses_Moses_ Posts: 4,865

    Mr. Moses, something cannot be 'quite' unique. It's unique (a one-off, individual, distinct rarity of one instance) or it isn't.

    Mr. Squire, welcome to pb.com.

    I stand corrected .....while lying down.
    ( I now seem to recollect this has been mentioned before on here)
  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    1 - Good to see they haven't excluded you.
    2 - Only a moron suggests that Brown started the crash, the debate is about the state of the finances to withstand any such deviation from the "no more boom and bust" and also regulation of the sector. See Canada, Australia and Denmark as countries that foresaw some slow down and generally kept things in a better shape, so far better prepared than most and weathered the effects.
    That's exactly it.

    I'm really sick of tired of Labour constantly shooting down this straw man that they were responsible for the Credit Crunch.

    The criticism is that they were responsible for the regulation of the financial industry that might have helped facilitate it and that they were too interested in creaming off the money from it - and running a deficit at the same time - to challenge it. All the time never letting off the hubris of having abolished the economic cycle.

    The fact that they doubled down on doing the same thing *after* the credit crunch was in full swing - partly out of spite and scorched earth policy - made matters worse.

    They were reckless with regulation and reckless with the public finances and still show no signs of having learnt their lesson.
    And of course not one of the UK banks which went down did so because of exposure to CDOs. They went down because of stupid and hubristic commercial decisions about UK property lending and, in the worst case, an overseas acquisition.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,062

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it

    A. Brown boasted he had abolished boom and bust.
    "Under this Government, Britain will not return to the boom and bust of the past." Pre-Budget Report, 9th November 1999.
    If he can take the credit for being so influential that it is abolished, he has to take part of the blame when there was a bust. Or at the very least being stupid enough to believe his own importance.
    It was about the causes of the crash and more particularly those very few who saw it coming and bet against the housing market (thus making a fortune)

    Francis. "Glad they didn't exclude you..." Me too! It's the first time I've understood why people were crucifying the bankers.

    SeanT. I also though 'Everest' was much underrated.

  • MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642
    edited 2016 22
    Tim Shipman landing a low blow to June Sarpong (who is she???):

    https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/690519145914462209
  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649
    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    George V. You're worth it.

    Does "London Bob" really post from an IP address in St Petersburg? I know that there really are paid sock puppets posting out of call centers in Russia but I tend to assume that most of the ones that I come across on the internet are just freaks and weirdos with a very " particular" view of the world.

    Maybe I am naive.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    MP_SE said:

    Tim Shipman landing a low blow to June Sarpong (who is she???):

    https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/690519145914462209

    Don't worry, Remain will soon announce that David Bowie and Alan Rickman are supporting our continued membership of the EU!
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,138
    Mr. Moses, np.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    pbr2013 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    George V. You're worth it.

    Does "London Bob" really post from an IP address in St Petersburg? I know that there really are paid sock puppets posting out of call centers in Russia but I tend to assume that most of the ones that I come across on the internet are just freaks and weirdos with a very " particular" view of the world.

    Maybe I am naive.
    Russian sock puppets use the IP addresses of people who use software such as Hola. People install the extension to enable them to hide their IP address. And Hola sells use of their private IPs in the UK or the US or whatever to Russian sock puppets.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 97,052
    pbr2013 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    George V. You're worth it.

    Does "London Bob" really post from an IP address in St Petersburg? I know that there really are paid sock puppets posting out of call centers in Russia but I tend to assume that most of the ones that I come across on the internet are just freaks and weirdos with a very " particular" view of the world.

    Maybe I am naive.
    I find it hard to believe people paid to shill for a political party and particularly a foreign power would be so easily identified by where they are posting from.
  • Moses_Moses_ Posts: 4,865

    A man cleared of raping a woman has been ordered to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35385227

    Notified in advance? ....so a case of " premature expectation" then.
  • richardDoddrichardDodd Posts: 5,472
    rsa1000 Hotel California..just off the Champs....
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    pbr2013 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    George V. You're worth it.

    Does "London Bob" really post from an IP address in St Petersburg? I know that there really are paid sock puppets posting out of call centers in Russia but I tend to assume that most of the ones that I come across on the internet are just freaks and weirdos with a very " particular" view of the world.

    Maybe I am naive.
    George V is completely the wrong price.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 125,154
    Chuka Umunna remains Labour's most credible future PM in. my view and it is amazing how a third election defeat in a row concentrates party members minds, after all 4 years after electing IDS Tory members elected Cameron
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161

    rsa1000 Hotel California..just off the Champs....

    tyvm
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,556
    pbr2013 said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    1 - Good to see they haven't excluded you.
    2 - Only a moron suggests that Brown started the crash, the debate is about the state of the finances to withstand any such deviation from the "no more boom and bust" and also regulation of the sector. See Canada, Australia and Denmark as countries that foresaw some slow down and generally kept things in a better shape, so far better prepared than most and weathered the effects.
    That's exactly it.

    I'm really sick of tired of Labour constantly shooting down this straw man that they were responsible for the Credit Crunch.

    The criticism is that they were responsible for the regulation of the financial industry that might have helped facilitate it and that they were too interested in creaming off the money from it - and running a deficit at the same time - to challenge it. All the time never letting off the hubris of having abolished the economic cycle.

    The fact that they doubled down on doing the same thing *after* the credit crunch was in full swing - partly out of spite and scorched earth policy - made matters worse.

    They were reckless with regulation and reckless with the public finances and still show no signs of having learnt their lesson.
    And of course not one of the UK banks which went down did so because of exposure to CDOs. They went down because of stupid and hubristic commercial decisions about UK property lending and, in the worst case, an overseas acquisition.
    Yup - no too-complex-too-understand-financial-instruments were involved. They gave out lots of loans that went bad. That complex.

    Even where derivatives were in involved in secondary markets, it was the collapse in the underlying that caused the problem.

    Alan Greenspan and Gordon Brown saw the boom - and stepped on the accelerator hard.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,141
    The 2008 crash was caused by stupid bankers. They were allowed to be stupid by the regulators. Brown was in part responsible for the poor regulation. (It wasn't at all about it being light - light once over by the BoE is far better than an in depth study by Adair Turner)

    Brown didn't cause the crash, and he didn't save the world.

    The product of the 2008 crash is an almost incredible game of the Emperor's clothes. One day someone will spot that the world is overborrowed mostly, that there is cash sitting around doing very little, and the mechanism that used to work to fill borrowing with cash (equity) isn't trusted. It'll correct itself at some point.

  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    Hmmm: Westminster looks good - also walking distance from the Gare du Nord
  • NorfolkTilIDieNorfolkTilIDie Posts: 1,268
    Who is June Sarpong?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 53,244
    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    Hotel du Louvre or Hotel Scribe are both good and in the same sort of area.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,556

    A man cleared of raping a woman has been ordered to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35385227

    Without knowing the details of the case, that does seem a barmy order.
    The order in question requires a lesser standard of proof than "beyond reasonable doubt" IIRC

    Bit like a civil suit after an acquittal.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Friday Night: Expectation vs Reality https://t.co/Ms0T6ZSp8X
    Moses_ said:

    A man cleared of raping a woman has been ordered to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35385227

    Notified in advance? ....so a case of " premature expectation" then.
  • EPGEPG Posts: 6,693
    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    Hmmm: Westminster looks good - also walking distance from the Gare du Nord
    Naturally.

    I'm GARP in everything I do ;)
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,141
    Re. Labour leader - Surely you've overlooked the potential of Matthew Pennycook! (I backed him by accident on BF. Long odds, and only a couple of pounds, but nonetheless I'm now hopeful)
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    EPG said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
    boo!

    (They do nice dinners though)
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @SpecCoffeeHouse: Corbyn didn’t consult Shadow Business Secretary over controversial business policy idea https://t.co/U03c3uenBj by @isabelhardman
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,062
    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    Hotel Bristol or the GeorgeV if your client's paying for it. If you are paying yourself a nice place is Hotel des Saints-Peres.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    EPG said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
    Is it just Charles who can't stay there anymore, or is it more general?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 125,154

    Who is June Sarpong?

    Ex T4
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    EPG said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
    Is it just Charles who can't stay there anymore, or is it more general?
    I nearly got thrown out of my club in San Francisco...
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,998

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it

    A. Brown boasted he had abolished boom and bust.
    "Under this Government, Britain will not return to the boom and bust of the past." Pre-Budget Report, 9th November 1999.
    If he can take the credit for being so influential that it is abolished, he has to take part of the blame when there was a bust. Or at the very least being stupid enough to believe his own importance.
    To be fair Brown did abolish boom.
  • peter_from_putneypeter_from_putney Posts: 6,956
    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Jim Pickard
    Value of FTSE100 has risen by about £50bn (give or take) since Damian advised us to stock up on tinned food... https://t.co/3U4ittItw5

    Snort

    http://www.alexcartoon.com/index.cfm?cartoons_id=5059
    Royal Bank of Caledonia was one of their more inspired attempts to disguise who they were talking about.

    Although I did rather like the proposed merger between Uberbank and Kindling a few years ago...
    It was actually referred to as "The Regal Bank of Caledonia" iirc.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 58,161
    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    EPG said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
    Is it just Charles who can't stay there anymore, or is it more general?
    I nearly got thrown out of my club in San Francisco...
    The Pacific-Union?
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited 2016 22
    I have just given 24hrs advanced notice to Mrs SSC – she laughed and said she was busy.
  • EPGEPG Posts: 6,693
    rcs1000 said:

    EPG said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
    Is it just Charles who can't stay there anymore, or is it more general?
    Tee hee. It is general. On ne reste plus la.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    @JasonCowleyNS

    Labour's economic advisory committee has hit the rocks. Only 1 meeting; Piketty+ Stiglitz not present. Others dismayed by "stupid ideas"
  • chestnutchestnut Posts: 7,341
    Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks at the end of December 2015 was £1,542.6 billion, equivalent to 81.0% of Gross Domestic Product; an increase of £53.2 billion compared with December 2014.
    Just £53.2bn higher than a year previously ???
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,548
    Scott_P said:

    @SpecCoffeeHouse: Corbyn didn’t consult Shadow Business Secretary over controversial business policy idea https://t.co/U03c3uenBj by @isabelhardman

    I think we can safely assume that Corbyn consults no-one other than McDonnell, Milne, his STW mates and, possibly, his cat.


  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,141
    Cyclefree said:

    Scott_P said:

    @SpecCoffeeHouse: Corbyn didn’t consult Shadow Business Secretary over controversial business policy idea https://t.co/U03c3uenBj by @isabelhardman

    I think we can safely assume that Corbyn consults no-one other than McDonnell, Milne, his STW mates and, possibly, his cat.


    I'm told the cat's had enough.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,998
    Lisa Nandy = female Ed Miliband
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    EPG said:

    Charles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    I quite like the Hotel Westminster - nice area, decent hotel, but a lot cheaper than the majors.

    http://warwickhotels.com/westminster/

    Not sure if the Cercle de l'Union Interalliee has rooms still, but if they do that's a good place to stay as well

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercle_de_l'Union_interalliée
    You can't stay there any more.
    Is it just Charles who can't stay there anymore, or is it more general?
    I nearly got thrown out of my club in San Francisco...
    The Pacific-Union?
    :sunglasses:

    Coffee with a french CFO - I was 5 minutes late.

    So he (i) said he was there for a meeting; (ii) pulled out his blackberry; and (iii) wasn't wearing a tie.

    3 strikes and you're out, right?
  • Cyclefree said:

    Scott_P said:

    @SpecCoffeeHouse: Corbyn didn’t consult Shadow Business Secretary over controversial business policy idea https://t.co/U03c3uenBj by @isabelhardman

    I think we can safely assume that Corbyn consults no-one other than McDonnell, Milne, his STW mates and, possibly, his cat.


    EL Gato is probably over qualified to sit on the committee .
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,138
    Miss Cyclefree, his rebellious, doing-what-he-wants approach of decades on the backbenches is something he's carried into leadership. He's not even trying to build a team, he just wants people to mindlessly agree, which is the antithesis of what he did as a backbench MP.

    Said it before: Corbyn's plain stupid.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
  • TCPoliticalBettingTCPoliticalBetting Posts: 10,819
    edited 2016 22

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it

    A. Brown boasted he had abolished boom and bust.
    "Under this Government, Britain will not return to the boom and bust of the past." Pre-Budget Report, 9th November 1999.
    If he can take the credit for being so influential that it is abolished, he has to take part of the blame when there was a bust. Or at the very least being stupid enough to believe his own importance.
    To be fair Brown did abolish boom.
    boom boom
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,141

    Miss Cyclefree, his rebellious, doing-what-he-wants approach of decades on the backbenches is something he's carried into leadership. He's not even trying to build a team, he just wants people to mindlessly agree, which is the antithesis of what he did as a backbench MP.

    Said it before: Corbyn's plain stupid.

    The odds of him becoming next PM are around 11/1 (bf). I'd guess that the odds of him ever being PM are around 3/1. That's an amazing thing really. A person who many regard as a clown really can have a decent chance of governing our country.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,755
    Omnium said:

    Miss Cyclefree, his rebellious, doing-what-he-wants approach of decades on the backbenches is something he's carried into leadership. He's not even trying to build a team, he just wants people to mindlessly agree, which is the antithesis of what he did as a backbench MP.

    Said it before: Corbyn's plain stupid.

    The odds of him becoming next PM are around 11/1 (bf). I'd guess that the odds of him ever being PM are around 3/1. That's an amazing thing really. A person who many regard as a clown really can have a decent chance of governing our country.
    Next PM he is unbackable due to the technicality that GO, Boris, May or Javid will most likely be PM from 2018/19 - 2020.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,482
    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,548

    Miss Cyclefree, his rebellious, doing-what-he-wants approach of decades on the backbenches is something he's carried into leadership. He's not even trying to build a team, he just wants people to mindlessly agree, which is the antithesis of what he did as a backbench MP.

    Said it before: Corbyn's plain stupid.

    Both stupid and a menace. Should be kept well away from any real power. A pity Labour MPs didn't consult this before giving him nominations -
    http://quoteinvestigator.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hammerstein03.jpg


  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,755
    Small sample size/large MoE, but Trump looks to be utterly crushing the GOP field:

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzogby/2016/01/21/new-zogby-poll-trump-leads-cruz-by-32-points-nationwide/#396f19f37b32
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,141
    The BBC are running a story here

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35380299

    It seems Michael Caine is in favour of us leaving the EU. Well fair enough. How though did the BBC decide that Sir Michael's views on this issue had any merit over (say) Mrs Miggins' views.

    In fact given the choice between Michael Caine or some random person in the UK as a determinator of policy I'd have to say that a random person was better in that Caine is far from representative.



  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649
    rcs1000 said:

    pbr2013 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Hotel advice for Paris

    I always stay at the W Opera. Which is convenient for Gare du Nord.

    But I'm thinking of branching out. Any suggestions?

    George V. You're worth it.

    Does "London Bob" really post from an IP address in St Petersburg? I know that there really are paid sock puppets posting out of call centers in Russia but I tend to assume that most of the ones that I come across on the internet are just freaks and weirdos with a very " particular" view of the world.

    Maybe I am naive.
    Russian sock puppets use the IP addresses of people who use software such as Hola. People install the extension to enable them to hide their IP address. And Hola sells use of their private IPs in the UK or the US or whatever to Russian sock puppets.
    Seems an awful waste of time as they are transparently Kremlin sock puppets however they try to hide their tracks. Apart from the ones who are doing it gratis.
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    Cyclefree said:

    Miss Cyclefree, his rebellious, doing-what-he-wants approach of decades on the backbenches is something he's carried into leadership. He's not even trying to build a team, he just wants people to mindlessly agree, which is the antithesis of what he did as a backbench MP.

    Said it before: Corbyn's plain stupid.

    Both stupid and a menace. Should be kept well away from any real power. A pity Labour MPs didn't consult this before giving him nominations -
    http://quoteinvestigator.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hammerstein03.jpg


    That's hilarious because it is so true, and because I am clever and lazy... :)
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,548

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    I'd like to challenge this idea that Brown was not - in part - responsible for the crash. The ineffective financial regulation, which permitted banks to behave like utterly reckless morons, coupled with his desire for the tax revenues which the banks' moronic activities generated were in part responsible for the crash. There were other factors of course and these two were only part of the reasons. But had financial regulation been much tighter, better focused, better run and had the regulators acted on the specific warnings they were given, not just about reckless behaviour but criminality, there would not have been the sort of excesses we saw. If Brown had not spent and spent like a drunken sailor on shore leave he might have wondered if the deluge of tax revenues from the City might not have been a warning signal rather than a reason to spend, spend, spend.

    Brown did not just leave us in a poor position when the crash happened. His policies beforehand made it more likely that there would be a crash after an unsustainable boom based on dubious, risky and excessive financial activity poorly understood and regulated.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Cyclefree said:

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    I'd like to challenge this idea that Brown was not - in part - responsible for the crash. The ineffective financial regulation, which permitted banks to behave like utterly reckless morons, coupled with his desire for the tax revenues which the banks' moronic activities generated were in part responsible for the crash. There were other factors of course and these two were only part of the reasons. But had financial regulation been much tighter, better focused, better run and had the regulators acted on the specific warnings they were given, not just about reckless behaviour but criminality, there would not have been the sort of excesses we saw. If Brown had not spent and spent like a drunken sailor on shore leave he might have wondered if the deluge of tax revenues from the City might not have been a warning signal rather than a reason to spend, spend, spend.

    Brown did not just leave us in a poor position when the crash happened. His policies beforehand made it more likely that there would be a crash after an unsustainable boom based on dubious, risky and excessive financial activity poorly understood and regulated.
    Well put
  • pbr2013pbr2013 Posts: 649
    Omnium said:

    The BBC are running a story here

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35380299

    It seems Michael Caine is in favour of us leaving the EU. Well fair enough. How though did the BBC decide that Sir Michael's views on this issue had any merit over (say) Mrs Miggins' views.

    In fact given the choice between Michael Caine or some random person in the UK as a determinator of policy I'd have to say that a random person was better in that Caine is far from representative.



    Thesps get a platform that Mrs Miggins doesn't. I respect Caines' views more than Cumberbatches'
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    Noticeably you avoided the Osborne article in the Times. As did the usual suspects , Charles , Cyclefree et al.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    edited 2016 22
    chestnut said:

    Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks at the end of December 2015 was £1,542.6 billion, equivalent to 81.0% of Gross Domestic Product; an increase of £53.2 billion compared with December 2014.
    Just £53.2bn higher than a year previously ???

    Rubbish. Osborne said in 2010 that by 2014/2015 Britain's budget would be in surplus and therefore the overall debt would be coming down from then on.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Cyclefree said:

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    I'd like to challenge this idea that Brown was not - in part - responsible for the crash. The ineffective financial regulation, which permitted banks to behave like utterly reckless morons, coupled with his desire for the tax revenues which the banks' moronic activities generated were in part responsible for the crash. There were other factors of course and these two were only part of the reasons. But had financial regulation been much tighter, better focused, better run and had the regulators acted on the specific warnings they were given, not just about reckless behaviour but criminality, there would not have been the sort of excesses we saw. If Brown had not spent and spent like a drunken sailor on shore leave he might have wondered if the deluge of tax revenues from the City might not have been a warning signal rather than a reason to spend, spend, spend.

    Brown did not just leave us in a poor position when the crash happened. His policies beforehand made it more likely that there would be a crash after an unsustainable boom based on dubious, risky and excessive financial activity poorly understood and regulated.
    When the crash started in 2008, Britain's debt / GDP ratio was 39% , lower than frugal Germany ! Only facts are inconvenient to your story.
  • Danny565Danny565 Posts: 8,091
    "Finally, the world has realised that George Osborne is a hottie"

    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/01/finally-the-world-has-realised-that-george-osborne-is-a-hottie/

    And they say Labour supporters occupy a parallel universe.
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    edited 2016 22
    Cyclefree said:

    Scott_P said:

    @SpecCoffeeHouse: Corbyn didn’t consult Shadow Business Secretary over controversial business policy idea https://t.co/U03c3uenBj by @isabelhardman

    I think we can safely assume that Corbyn consults no-one other than McDonnell, Milne, his STW mates and, possibly, his cat.


    There is nothing wrong with consulting one's cat. Aside from anything else the moggie is just as likely to be right as any poll or top level economist/racing tipster.

    Edited extra bit: If you have one handy you could also try consulting a German Shepherd Dog. Heidi who lives with TimB, gent of this parish, has a better track record of predicting elections than YouGov and the rest of that bunch.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,548
    surbiton said:

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    1. It explains the '08 crash so any idiot can understand it
    2. The financial crash started in the US and Brown had nothing to do with it
    3. Entertaining. Anyone involved in banking will enjoy it in the way photographers liked 'Blow Up'
    4. Won't win. Too misogynist and the suspect morality was made far too alluring

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    Noticeably you avoided the Osborne article in the Times. As did the usual suspects , Charles , Cyclefree et al.
    I have no idea which article you are talking about. If it's the 2006 article, big deal. By then, much of the damage which became apparent a year or so later had been done. Nothing Osborne said then made the blindest bit of difference to what Brown had been doing in the preceding nine years.

    But if you are saying that Osborne and co were equally deluded about the apparent boom then you are right. They were. But they were not in power. Brown was Chancellor during the relevant period and he bears the responsibility for the consequences of the policies he followed.

    He was not, after all, pushed into spending and repeatedly boasting about his spending by the Tories.

    Why Labour find it so hard to accept responsibility for their own policies is hard to say.

    The crash did not come out of nowhere. It was not an Act of God. It happened because of policies followed by governments and actions taken by many economic players: banks, companies, individuals (who borrowed and spent money they did not have) etc etc. The UK government from 1997 to 2007 bears significant responsibility for what happened in the years following 2007.

    It's time that this myth that their only fault was not to squirrel some money away was laid to rest.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Cyclefree said:

    surbiton said:

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:

    Completely OT.

    'The Big Short'. Shortlisted for Best Picture.

    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    Noticeably you avoided the Osborne article in the Times. As did the usual suspects , Charles , Cyclefree et al.
    I have no idea which article you are talking about. If it's the 2006 article, big deal. By then, much of the damage which became apparent a year or so later had been done. Nothing Osborne said then made the blindest bit of difference to what Brown had been doing in the preceding nine years.

    But if you are saying that Osborne and co were equally deluded about the apparent boom then you are right. They were. But they were not in power. Brown was Chancellor during the relevant period and he bears the responsibility for the consequences of the policies he followed.

    He was not, after all, pushed into spending and repeatedly boasting about his spending by the Tories.

    Why Labour find it so hard to accept responsibility for their own policies is hard to say.

    The crash did not come out of nowhere. It was not an Act of God. It happened because of policies followed by governments and actions taken by many economic players: banks, companies, individuals (who borrowed and spent money they did not have) etc etc. The UK government from 1997 to 2007 bears significant responsibility for what happened in the years following 2007.

    It's time that this myth that their only fault was not to squirrel some money away was laid to rest.
    Was Brown responsible for all the other OECD countries recession too ? Lehmann Bros., AIG, etc. etc.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,548
    surbiton said:

    Cyclefree said:

    surbiton said:

    Roger said:



    Are you trying to say that Brown did not cause recession in 22 out of 24 OECD countries ? That he was not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Brothers ? Troubles at AIG, introducing TARP to save the Detroit car plants and all that.

    Are you also saying that he should have taken the advice of the then Shadow Chancellor who said his banking regulatory framework was too restrictive and we should have followed what Ireland did ?

    In 2006, George Osborne wrote in The Times, describing Ireland as “as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking….They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”
    Gordon Brown did not cause the financial crash, he simply ensured that rather than going into the blizzard wearing thermals, a Sou-wester and wellies, Britain entered it wearing a pair of flip flops and a thong. After all, he had abolished 'boom and bust'.
    I'd like to challenge this idea that Brown was not - in part - responsible for the crash. The ineffective financial regulation, which permitted banks to behave like utterly reckless morons, coupled with his desire for the tax revenues which the banks' moronic activities generated were in part responsible for the crash. There were other factors of course and these two were only part of the reasons. But had financial regulation been much tighter, better focused, better run and had the regulators acted on the specific warnings they were given, not just about reckless behaviour but criminality, there would not have been the sort of excesses we saw. If Brown had not spent and spent like a drunken sailor on shore leave he might have wondered if the deluge of tax revenues from the City might not have been a warning signal rather than a reason to spend, spend, spend.

    Brown did not just leave us in a poor position when the crash happened. His policies beforehand made it more likely that there would be a crash after an unsustainable boom based on dubious, risky and excessive financial activity poorly understood and regulated.
    When the crash started in 2008, Britain's debt / GDP ratio was 39% , lower than frugal Germany ! Only facts are inconvenient to your story.
    No - you are focusing on a debt / GDP ratio as if that was the only important fact. And the crash did not start in 2008. It started in 2007. I had a pretty good ringside seat. At times I was in the ring. Take it from me. The full story of what went on has yet to be told. The government and the regulators have much to be blamed for.

  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    As an extreme right wing Thatcherite, Caine will be for LEAVE. Why is that surprising ?
This discussion has been closed.