The Israel/Palestine debate is at least refreshing in the way it cuts across other faultlines with very little guarantee of someone feeling strongly either way based on their political hinterland.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
The two of them are certainly the worst in terms of people’s prosperity. Osborne for austerity and Brown for destroying pensions. Most of those that followed have been more incompetent than deliberately damaging.
I don’t think whoever came in after them both stood a chance having been hamstrung by the state of the economy they both contributed to as well as Covid and Ukraine. Hunt and Sunak and, lest we forget Kwarteng, were dealt absolutely dreadful hands. And to be fair to her, ughh it’s difficult, Reeves didn’t really stand a chance either.
I think that is fair. We spent £400bn on Covid and the complaints at the time, especially from the blessed Nicola, was that we were not doing enough. The insane overspending on fuel prices driven by that prat, Martin Lewis, did further significant damage.
We are now in a very deep hole and it would take someone so much smarter than Reeves to find a way to tiptoe out of it. Only Osborne has managed to do anything similar in recent times, arguably Lawson, with the help of North Sea Oil, 30 years earlier.
I have sympathy for Reeves, she has a hell of an inheritance and a party who are profoundly delusional. But she must stop making things worse. They are bad enough already.
My suggestion on digital ID would be that all MPs and members of the House of Lords adopt digital ID as a pilot scheme , allow the public access to all the information as to where they go and what they do, all live. Run the trial for a couple of years and see if the MPs and Peers find the technology intrusive. What do you think to that idea ?
The UK should just move to ID cards with the option of a digital ID if people prefer that . I don’t see why this seems to be so controversial as almost every other European country have them.
There are two things:
1) Philosophical - the relationship between the state and the citizen is different in the UK. The state doesn’t get to order us around without consent - they have no right to demand we identify ourselves (“papers please”)
2) Practical - Blair’s original proposal hung massive databases off the ID card and gave way too many people access to the information. It was a massive privacy and data security risk.
We’re already tracked to a certain degree by our phones . You can limit the data on the ID card to just what’s absolutely necessary and also what agencies can access it .
You are under no obligation to own a smartphone, or a car, or a property.
I think it’s an Anglosphere thing where the public seem to be really riled up by the idea of ID cards .
I think it's an ill-researched centre-left thing to assume automatically that everything to do with the march of the state is 'just fine' and is being moaned about by ignorant plebs. The same attitude that Starmer's bag of dipshits had going into Government.
This is not about carrying an ID card. It is about the deeply illiberal system of which the ID card is the bit you carry.
Why does most of Europe have them ? They don’t seem to cause controversy .
As far as I am aware, 'most of Europe' does not have what the British state is demanding.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
River, River, River, River, Riverside Motherfucker.
Its a whimsical track by Wizard Sleeve, I believe.
No self respecting blog discusses Strictly. Shameful.
I said the site was in decline
The site is in decline due to the quality of the discussion.
See the last thread. We could have had a good conversation on how George Osborne was the most politically significant figure of the last 20 years. Instead the follow-up was a mix of non-sequiturs, pointless pedantry, failed "Gotchas", and a bit on Fatch.
It's like reading a crap Twitter thread; it's entirely unrewarding to engage with, but filled posts that harvest a few likes from those who are fans of each other and have nothing better to do.
Not enough Reeves/ Starmer is/ are s*** posts?
Easily rectified I would have thought.
P.S. I countered that Osborne's advice to Cameron re; the Referendum was correct. I don't like him, but I admire how he reads the political tea leaves.
Yes, CR might have been hoping for more but I thought we had a decent little discussion there.
The difficulty with all PB 'debate' is that we're all so heavily committed. As a member of (I think) the rather less entrenched end of the scale it rather dismays me to see endless repetition of really not very good arguments. I'm sure that is to some extent true for us all.
Well I'm a PB bull. It's got more tabloid here, imo, since Labour had the cheek to replace the Conservatives in government, but it still rocks.
As for you, ok unentrenched, but I bet there are hills you'd die on. Suede shoes, istr being one such. Or was that David Herdson?
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
No self respecting blog discusses Strictly. Shameful.
I said the site was in decline
The site is in decline due to the quality of the discussion.
See the last thread. We could have had a good conversation on how George Osborne was the most politically significant figure of the last 20 years. Instead the follow-up was a mix of non-sequiturs, pointless pedantry, failed "Gotchas", and a bit on Fatch.
It's like reading a crap Twitter thread; it's entirely unrewarding to engage with, but filled posts that harvest a few likes from those who are fans of each other and have nothing better to do.
Better slashing your wrists than talking about Osborne for me.
@Casino_Royale pontificating how there's no debate is a touch worse.
Thanks for your contribution.
I wasn't trying to be mean. We're all (for faults collective) a bit starved of debate. You do the meta-debate well, but I'm sure you'd like to roll your sleeves up and get into a proper argument.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
Yeah, thats her
IIRC Pascoe, from Dalziel and Pascoe humped her a few times in it. I suspect Dalziel was not up to it, given his physique,
Although it sounds shite it was Shakespeare at his best compared to the dogs doo doo we have had the last few years.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
It gets worse Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
My suggestion on digital ID would be that all MPs and members of the House of Lords adopt digital ID as a pilot scheme , allow the public access to all the information as to where they go and what they do, all live. Run the trial for a couple of years and see if the MPs and Peers find the technology intrusive. What do you think to that idea ?
The UK should just move to ID cards with the option of a digital ID if people prefer that . I don’t see why this seems to be so controversial as almost every other European country have them.
There are two things:
1) Philosophical - the relationship between the state and the citizen is different in the UK. The state doesn’t get to order us around without consent - they have no right to demand we identify ourselves (“papers please”)
2) Practical - Blair’s original proposal hung massive databases off the ID card and gave way too many people access to the information. It was a massive privacy and data security risk.
We’re already tracked to a certain degree by our phones . You can limit the data on the ID card to just what’s absolutely necessary and also what agencies can access it .
You are under no obligation to own a smartphone, or a car, or a property.
I think it’s an Anglosphere thing where the public seem to be really riled up by the idea of ID cards .
I think it's an ill-researched centre-left thing to assume automatically that everything to do with the march of the state is 'just fine' and is being moaned about by ignorant plebs. The same attitude that Starmer's bag of dipshits had going into Government.
This is not about carrying an ID card. It is about the deeply illiberal system of which the ID card is the bit you carry.
Why does most of Europe have them ? They don’t seem to cause controversy .
They have a registration culture valuing the collective over the individual and are happy with ceding personal facts to authorities on demand. We don't have that culture because we've not been conquered for a while and the tech hasn't been in place. Unfortunately we are become more and more willing to share our personal facts with strangers and a new generation may permit compulsory ID cards, a development I would regret
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
The problem is that the CotE needs to be in a Goldilocks zone where they are subservient enough to the PM to follow their aims and directions but strong enough to push back, with enough understanding of economies to stop a PM doing stupid uncosted things.
With Brown and Osborne we had dynamic duo relationships where the two parties were almost equal in standing/. Came as a pair that the PM couldn’t drop them without a war but they had very strong opinions on what the treasury was for and should do.
Tho I do utterly detest most Reality TV, with Strictly only outdone by Love Island in terms of Satanic Evil
Very strange reaction from you.
All reality tv is ghastly. Unless you begin to watch them. Then, no matter what the flavour (Strictly, Love Island, Traitors, Big Brother) you get to know the characters and the programme becomes a(nother) character-driven drama. No less than Succession or whatnot.
I get that you feel you must stake out your intellectual prowess but criticising reality shows is not the hill to die on. Plus it is jejeune.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
It gets worse Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
Affectionately known as River Snog on some fan groups, due to her drunken divorcee at a wedding act.
Who else would meet Hitler and decide to go shopping in Nazi Germany.
No self respecting blog discusses Strictly. Shameful.
I said the site was in decline
The site is in decline due to the quality of the discussion.
See the last thread. We could have had a good conversation on how George Osborne was the most politically significant figure of the last 20 years. Instead the follow-up was a mix of non-sequiturs, pointless pedantry, failed "Gotchas", and a bit on Fatch.
It's like reading a crap Twitter thread; it's entirely unrewarding to engage with, but filled posts that harvest a few likes from those who are fans of each other and have nothing better to do.
Not enough Reeves/ Starmer is/ are s*** posts?
Easily rectified I would have thought.
P.S. I countered that Osborne's advice to Cameron re; the Referendum was correct. I don't like him, but I admire how he reads the political tea leaves.
Yes, CR might have been hoping for more but I thought we had a decent little discussion there.
The difficulty with all PB 'debate' is that we're all so heavily committed. As a member of (I think) the rather less entrenched end of the scale it rather dismays me to see endless repetition of really not very good arguments. I'm sure that is to some extent true for us all.
Well I'm a PB bull. It's got more tabloid here, imo, since Labour had the cheek to replace the Conservatives in government, but it still rocks.
As for you, ok unentrenched, but I bet there are hills you'd die on. Suede shoes, istr being one such. Or was that David Herdson?
Suede shoes wasn't me.
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with PB. I think it's the rest of the world around PB that has gone to shit.
I have found myself using the site a lot less recently; I still greatly value the quality of discussion especially with those of a different political persuasion to me, but I'm just not sure that there is much of value anyone can really post about the Trumpian brand of proto-fascism, Labour's poor politics, the rape of Gaza etc. What, really, is there to debate other than being provocative for the sake of it?
Incidentally I agree with @Omnium - as someone who is definitely one of the more entrenched I try not to repeat endless left-wing arguments, but we are a very committed bunch. It was ever thus, though, no?
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
I believe she is.
Dr Who has always been dipshit. I'm rewatching Jon Pertwee series. In The Daemons, a time travelling alien is investigating an archaeological dig where they seem to have uncovered another alien, who looks like the Great God Pan for some reason (including furry trousers) and can change size at will. Meanwhile the time travelling alien's disreputable compatiot has shown up, offed the vicar, and created a black magic coven and is somehow summoning said furry alien with cod Crowleyish iincantations*. Subsequently the first time travelling alien is somehow captured during a sort of bondage maypole dance but is released due to an improbable series of plot devices.
That's as far as we have got, but next time the Great God Pan turns up he is going to decide whether to destroy the earth, or give it to the second time travelling alien as his plaything. Presumably neither happen, and this is somehow linked to blowing up a model of the parish church which IIRC was the series finale. Apparently some viewers complained because they thought the BBC had blown up a real one
* actually Mary had a Little Lamb read backwards, although surely it woukd have been easier to just use the Book of Thelema
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
He'll never admit it, but I bet Blair regrets Iraq a lot more.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
He'll never admit it, but I bet Blair regrets Iraq a lot more.
I doubt he regrets it, I imagine he wouldn’t have the money and contacts and global “status” he has now if he hadn’t been the Wing man to Bush on Iraq and Afghanistan.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
I believe she is.
Dr Who has always been dipshit. I'm rewatching Jon Pertwee series. In The Daemons, a time travelling alien is investigating an archaeological dig where they seem to have uncovered another alien, who looks like the Great God Pan for some reason (including furry trousers) and can change size at will. Meanwhile the time travelling alien's disreputable compatiot has shown up, offed the vicar, and created a black magic coven and is somehow summoning said furry alien with cod Crowleyish iincantations*. Subsequently the first time travelling alien is somehow captured during a sort of bondage maypole dance but is released due to an improbable series of plot devices.
That's as far as we have got, but next time the Great God Pan turns up he is going to decide whether to destroy the earth, or give it to the second time travelling alien as his plaything. Presumably neither happen, and this is somehow linked to blowing up a model of the parish church which IIRC was the series finale. Apparently some viewers complained because they thought the BBC had blown up a real one
* actually Mary had a Little Lamb read backwards, although surely it woukd have been easier to just use the Book of Thelema
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
I believe she is.
Dr Who has always been dipshit. I'm rewatching Jon Pertwee series. In The Daemons, a time travelling alien is investigating an archaeological dig where they seem to have uncovered another alien, who looks like the Great God Pan for some reason (including furry trousers) and can change size at will. Meanwhile the time travelling alien's disreputable compatiot has shown up, offed the vicar, and created a black magic coven and is somehow summoning said furry alien with cod Crowleyish iincantations*. Subsequently the first time travelling alien is somehow captured during a sort of bondage maypole dance but is released due to an improbable series of plot devices.
That's as far as we have got, but next time the Great God Pan turns up he is going to decide whether to destroy the earth, or give it to the second time travelling alien as his plaything. Presumably neither happen, and this is somehow linked to blowing up a model of the parish church which IIRC was the series finale. Apparently some viewers complained because they thought the BBC had blown up a real one
* actually Mary had a Little Lamb read backwards, although surely it woukd have been easier to just use the Book of Thelema
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
He'll never admit it, but I bet Blair regrets Iraq a lot more.
I once had a handwritten four-letter correspondence (two from me, two from him) with Blair about the Iraq war. A close friend had been killed by a roadside bomb; I was virulently anti-war anyway, and this made me write a very rage-filled letter to him. To his credit I got about 3 handwritten pages back, to which I then replied again in a more conciliatory way, and to which he then replied once more.
His responses were laced with guilt but also a sort of messianic zeal that was a bit scary. I'm not sure I sensed any regret though. Perhaps it's different now but I doubt it.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
It gets worse Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
All this was on an asteroid stationed by a sect of militarised Anglican priests with a statistically impossible number of gay personnel who aided by headless monks tried to entrap the Doctor by using his pregnant companion as bait after they had kidnapped her and replaced her with a body double made out of goo so she (the pregnant one, not the goo one) could bring her baby to term so they could forcegrow it into a specially trained assassin who would kill the Doctor in adulthood, which she tried to do after regenerating (don't ask) in Hitler's office but failed. They then fell in love and eventually married.
The concept of "canon" in Doctor Who is not like other shows.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
It gets worse Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
All this was on an asteroid stationed by a sect of militarised Anglican priests with a statistically impossible number of gay personnel who aided by headless monks tried to entrap the Doctor by using his pregnant companion as bait after they had kidnapped her and replaced her with a body double made out of goo so she (the pregnant one, not the goo one) could bring her baby to term so they could forcegrow it into a specially trained assassin who would kill the Doctor in adulthood, which she tried to do after regenerating (don't ask) in Hitler's office but failed. They then fell in love and eventually married.
The concept of "canon" in Doctor Who is not like other shows.
I mean it makes perfect sense when you see it written down.
From a Liberal Democrat perspective, George Osborne is an interesting figure. He spoke kindly of the work of Steve Webb, David Laws and Danny Alexander and indeed I believe he thought the Orange Bookers thinking on pensions was ahead of that of his own team. The financial and philosophical convergence of "liberal conservatism" and Orange Booker liberalism made the Coalition possible.
That's not to denigrate the key role of the personal relationship between David Cameron and Nick Clegg but neither were philosophical powerhouses and indeed were the "front men" of the post-New Labour period. The Coalition response to the events of the GFC and their aftermath has been widely critiqued but at the time reducing the deficit (rather than the debt) was seen as the priority and as economic activity was only slowly recovering, the onus was on reducing public spending to close the gap.
Allister Heath (before he went mad) thought QE a mistake and wanted a return to a more normal monetary policy but Osborne, as a political rather than technocratic Chancellor, recognised low interest rates (while bad for savers) were vital to help hard working families pay their mortgages and reduce levels of personal debt (there was much more concern about that back then).
The 2012 Budget (the omnishambles as it was dubbed) was a personal humiliation but he did much behind the scenes to promote "his" backbenchers into junior ministerial positions and once the 2015 election delivered a majority, Osborne, if not actually primus inter pares, was an extremely powerful figure.
Had the EU Referendum turned out differently, it's very likely Osborne would have succeeded Cameron in 2017 or 2018 and could well have won a mandate. How he would have dealt with Covid is another matter.
Once the Referendum was lost and Cameron walked, it was the turn of those in the Conservative side who had never wanted the Coalition to take their revenge and Osborne was unceremoniously sacked by Theresa May. That was the end of his political career and a tenure as Editor of the Evening Standard wasn't a great success.
Could he have stood for London Mayor in 2020? Possibly but with Covid, would he have beaten Sadiq Khan?
All political careers end in failure and Osborne's is no exception. He had a long spell near to the top but with the EU Referendum result, the party of which he was so important moved in a very different direction and he found himself left behind. Whether his brand of Toryism could make a comeback one day I'm not sure - there are echoes in some of the comments by Badenoch on reducing the deficit and debt.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
My feeling about Osbourne that it would have been interesting to see how he developed (or didn't) had Cameron won the referendum.
Clearly a smart guy, but smart enough to work out his mistakes ?
No self respecting blog discusses Strictly. Shameful.
I said the site was in decline
The site is in decline due to the quality of the discussion.
See the last thread. We could have had a good conversation on how George Osborne was the most politically significant figure of the last 20 years. Instead the follow-up was a mix of non-sequiturs, pointless pedantry, failed "Gotchas", and a bit on Fatch.
It's like reading a crap Twitter thread; it's entirely unrewarding to engage with, but filled posts that harvest a few likes from those who are fans of each other and have nothing better to do.
Not enough Reeves/ Starmer is/ are s*** posts?
Easily rectified I would have thought.
P.S. I countered that Osborne's advice to Cameron re; the Referendum was correct. I don't like him, but I admire how he reads the political tea leaves.
Yes, CR might have been hoping for more but I thought we had a decent little discussion there.
The difficulty with all PB 'debate' is that we're all so heavily committed. As a member of (I think) the rather less entrenched end of the scale it rather dismays me to see endless repetition of really not very good arguments. I'm sure that is to some extent true for us all.
Well I'm a PB bull. It's got more tabloid here, imo, since Labour had the cheek to replace the Conservatives in government, but it still rocks.
As for you, ok unentrenched, but I bet there are hills you'd die on. Suede shoes, istr being one such. Or was that David Herdson?
Suede shoes wasn't me.
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with PB. I think it's the rest of the world around PB that has gone to shit.
I have found myself using the site a lot less recently; I still greatly value the quality of discussion especially with those of a different political persuasion to me, but I'm just not sure that there is much of value anyone can really post about the Trumpian brand of proto-fascism, Labour's poor politics, the rape of Gaza etc. What, really, is there to debate other than being provocative for the sake of it?
Incidentally I agree with @Omnium - as someone who is definitely one of the more entrenched I try not to repeat endless left-wing arguments, but we are a very committed bunch. It was ever thus, though, no?
I've been here most of the last 20 years.
There has always been a strong anti-Party mood.. It became darker and angrier after the GFC in 2008 and then with the EU Referendum but this has never been a site which has supported one party but rather not supported any of them from time to time with certain parties (usually the ones in Government) coming in for most stick. There are some posters who criticise all parties while others save their criticism for one or two parties.
One can only go by posts rather than by posters and the clique who post on a daily basis are not representative of anything other than themselves - to be fair, no one claims this site is some kind of political weathervane (it isn't). It's just a group of (mainly) middle aged and older white men having a whinge and a moan about politics and a host of other things.
Nothing wrong with that and there's plenty of knowledge about - we don't do enough political debate or political betting but politics markets are often dependent on elections and absent a GE or a good by-election, it can be very quiet. The one thing which hasn't changed is the over-analysis of opinion polls.
We've been cursed to live in interesting times and politics is volatile in a way it hasn't been for decades. We can look back at 2005 as though it were a lifetime ago and even 2015 seems ancient history. The last 20 years has seen the evolution of the 24 hour news cycle and of social media which makes political discourse a very different animal.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
He'll never admit it, but I bet Blair regrets Iraq a lot more.
I once had a handwritten four-letter correspondence (two from me, two from him) with Blair about the Iraq war. A close friend had been killed by a roadside bomb; I was virulently anti-war anyway, and this made me write a very rage-filled letter to him. To his credit I got about 3 handwritten pages back, to which I then replied again in a more conciliatory way, and to which he then replied once more.
His responses were laced with guilt but also a sort of messianic zeal that was a bit scary. I'm not sure I sensed any regret though. Perhaps it's different now but I doubt it.
That sounds like the authentic "hand of history" PM I recall.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
It gets worse Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
All this was on an asteroid stationed by a sect of militarised Anglican priests with a statistically impossible number of gay personnel who aided by headless monks tried to entrap the Doctor by using his pregnant companion as bait after they had kidnapped her and replaced her with a body double made out of goo so she (the pregnant one, not the goo one) could bring her baby to term so they could forcegrow it into a specially trained assassin who would kill the Doctor in adulthood, which she tried to do after regenerating (don't ask) in Hitler's office but failed. They then fell in love and eventually married.
The concept of "canon" in Doctor Who is not like other shows.
Dr Who the TV programme changed a lot since the first series. I enjoyed that one.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
I dislike this getting offended at theoretical constructs in your head.
There's plenty of real world stuff to do that with.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
Just wait until they hear “Spasticus Autisticus ”by him.
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
He'll never admit it, but I bet Blair regrets Iraq a lot more.
I doubt he regrets it, I imagine he wouldn’t have the money and contacts and global “status” he has now if he hadn’t been the Wing man to Bush on Iraq and Afghanistan.
If Blair was PM now, would he be Trump’s wingman, or does even he have princples?
There's a risk of sliding into a civilised steady BP discussion of Osborne and Brown here. Just flagging that.
My completely inconsidered feeling is that Osborne was one of those people who is too clever for their own good and Brown wasn’t as clever as he believed and people always told him he was but both ended up with the same result.
Osborne was too focussed on tricks, politics and a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of money and privilege so made bad short term decisions whilst Brown also tried to do the tricks, politics and had a detachment from the ordinary world, lived in a rarified world of pure politics so also made bad short term decisions.
Cameron wasn’t bright enough and didn’t have enough real world experience to stop Osborne and Blair was too focussed on the image and too wary of the political hinterland of Brown to stop Brown.
That's more fair than not imo. Brown's biggest failing for me was encouraging the City bubble.
I think Brown was a disaster for the country. But, it's really hard to imagine a world where he is Chancellor 1997 to 2007. What would Ken Clarke have done during that time? Or maybe a different Labour figure?
The one thing going for Clarke is that, I think, he largely resisted doing anything spectacular ahead of the 1997 election. Could the Tories have maintained such discipline into and through the 2000s?
They might have spent a bit less but the financial MBS driven bubble and crash would have happened anyway. The Cons were even more enamoured of the finance sector. And Brown couldn't have been bettered when it came to the crisis itself. He handled that with immense diligence and skill. He did other good things too as CoE. So, no, I'm not having 'disaster for the country', but it's a mixed legacy and he wielded too much power for too long.
The issue isn't around the financial crash - though decisions made during Brown's time contributed to the badness of it here - it's about how much money we were spending heading into the recession that was going to come along one day.
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
He maybe does regret that. But probably not as much as Blair regrets not moving him from CoE before it reached the point where he couldn't.
He'll never admit it, but I bet Blair regrets Iraq a lot more.
I doubt he regrets it, I imagine he wouldn’t have the money and contacts and global “status” he has now if he hadn’t been the Wing man to Bush on Iraq and Afghanistan.
If Blair was PM now, would he be Trump’s wingman, or does even he have princples?
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them, well I have others."
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
Ladbrokes won't give you that 337/1 double, though, will they. Related events. If Skinner wins Strictly he becomes, by dint of that, more likely to win the Mayoral election. For two reasons. (1) His profile is boosted. (2) He's demonstrated a quality that helps to win either - likeability.
Who is he btw? No, don't worry, just googled. Oh dear.
Bosh!
Is apparently his catchphrase, yes. Perhaps if I see a clip of him doing that I'll better understand his appeal.
Although it sounds a bit Gregg Wallace.
I hesitate to advise another grownup, but seeing a clip of him doing it will not help you to understand his appeal.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
Just wait until they hear “Spasticus Autisticus ”by him.
I refrained from mentioning it here given I’ve used the term ‘spacker’ here before in a jocular context
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
As for Tom Skinner, he may be what they call a "diamond geezer" but in a crowded field for London Mayor, he just looks like another celebrity wannabe politician.
He says all the right (in both senses) things about the Police and lack of community but it's the same old story of long on diagnosis (whingeing) and short on treatment (practical, legal and cost effective solutions).
Everyone wants more Police in London but from where do these new recruits come? Who trains and pays them? The operational stations were first closed by Boris Johnson and now by Sadiq Khan despite political resistance. Will Skinner find new operational local Police premises, where, how much will he spend on making them fit for purpose?
What will he do about fare evasion, rough sleeping, addiction, development - how would he work with the Boroughs?
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
I was a Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn kid back then. Dury was someone I made an exception for.
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
It gets worse Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
All this was on an asteroid stationed by a sect of militarised Anglican priests with a statistically impossible number of gay personnel who aided by headless monks tried to entrap the Doctor by using his pregnant companion as bait after they had kidnapped her and replaced her with a body double made out of goo so she (the pregnant one, not the goo one) could bring her baby to term so they could forcegrow it into a specially trained assassin who would kill the Doctor in adulthood, which she tried to do after regenerating (don't ask) in Hitler's office but failed. They then fell in love and eventually married.
The concept of "canon" in Doctor Who is not like other shows.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
He was a fine lyricist and the Blockheads were a brilliant “backing band”
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
On a point of pedantry, the first companion was Susan, who was his granddaughter.
Amusingly, and somewhat to support your point, when Carole Ann Ford was asked to reprise her role for the Five Doctors, she was told not to refer to this because 'we don't want people to think of the Doctor having sex.' Her response to laugh maniacally and walk out of the room.
At this point, realising that it would be slightly unfortunate to have a 20th anniversary special without any of the original cast in it, the producer saw sense and gave in.
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
either he has gone insane, or he thinks he's funny.
If the latter, there is an argument that he's still insane. imitating the posts of somebody who clearly has quite advanced dementia but doing them even worse merely looks stupid.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Some bellend with pink hair, they them pronouns, a nose ring and a Palestine flag in their bio would flag these lyrics up as being cultural appropriation if this was released today.
Just wait until they hear “Spasticus Autisticus ”by him.
I was on a bit of a deep dive a few months ago and heard this for the first time since, I think, it was in the charts :
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
He was a fine lyricist and the Blockheads were a brilliant “backing band”
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
I believe she is.
Dr Who has always been dipshit. I'm rewatching Jon Pertwee series. In The Daemons, a time travelling alien is investigating an archaeological dig where they seem to have uncovered another alien, who looks like the Great God Pan for some reason (including furry trousers) and can change size at will. Meanwhile the time travelling alien's disreputable compatiot has shown up, offed the vicar, and created a black magic coven and is somehow summoning said furry alien with cod Crowleyish iincantations*. Subsequently the first time travelling alien is somehow captured during a sort of bondage maypole dance but is released due to an improbable series of plot devices.
That's as far as we have got, but next time the Great God Pan turns up he is going to decide whether to destroy the earth, or give it to the second time travelling alien as his plaything. Presumably neither happen, and this is somehow linked to blowing up a model of the parish church which IIRC was the series finale. Apparently some viewers complained because they thought the BBC had blown up a real one
* actually Mary had a Little Lamb read backwards, although surely it woukd have been easier to just use the Book of Thelema
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
either he has gone insane, or he thinks he's funny.
If the latter, there is an argument that he's still insane. imitating the posts of somebody who clearly has quite advanced dementia but doing them even worse merely looks stupid.
It achieved its purpose which was to trigger DementiaDon
Once the Referendum was lost and Cameron walked, it was the turn of those in the Conservative side who had never wanted the Coalition to take their revenge and Osborne was unceremoniously sacked by Theresa May. That was the end of his political career and a tenure as Editor of the Evening Standard wasn't a great success.
I hope that one day we learn what really happened behind the scenes; the way in which May unceremoniously destroyed Osborne and salted the earth so he couldn't return was out of character for her and not consistent with any ideological allegiances. He was still very young for a chancellor and had a lot more to offer the party and the country.
There must've been something 'personal' behind it all. Some irrational, pathological hatred somewhere in there, for reasons we don't yet know.
TBH I can't see River Song losing. Nobody is more willing to brigade phone votes or write a script to online vote millions of times than Doctor Who fans, and they haven't got much else to celebrate these days.
I don't know if I want to ask - River song?
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
What a load of utter shite that sounds.
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
I believe she is.
Dr Who has always been dipshit. I'm rewatching Jon Pertwee series. In The Daemons, a time travelling alien is investigating an archaeological dig where they seem to have uncovered another alien, who looks like the Great God Pan for some reason (including furry trousers) and can change size at will. Meanwhile the time travelling alien's disreputable compatiot has shown up, offed the vicar, and created a black magic coven and is somehow summoning said furry alien with cod Crowleyish iincantations*. Subsequently the first time travelling alien is somehow captured during a sort of bondage maypole dance but is released due to an improbable series of plot devices.
That's as far as we have got, but next time the Great God Pan turns up he is going to decide whether to destroy the earth, or give it to the second time travelling alien as his plaything. Presumably neither happen, and this is somehow linked to blowing up a model of the parish church which IIRC was the series finale. Apparently some viewers complained because they thought the BBC had blown up a real one
* actually Mary had a Little Lamb read backwards, although surely it woukd have been easier to just use the Book of Thelema
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
either he has gone insane, or he thinks he's funny.
If the latter, there is an argument that he's still insane. imitating the posts of somebody who clearly has quite advanced dementia but doing them even worse merely looks stupid.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
He was a fine lyricist and the Blockheads were a brilliant “backing band”
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
As a internationalist socialist, he’d probably be cancelled by the current Labour and Tory parties, and the Reformics, You’ve voted for them all, haven’t you?
I just saw the place where Franz Ferdinand was shot.
Terrible to think of all the suffering that bullet unleashed, including the damage to our nation and Empire following our disastrous decision to intervene (though it achieved the almost impossible in shutting the Irish up for eighteen months).
It would be nice to think mankind has learned it lessons, but looking at the world now clearly lots haven't.
And of course people are amazing at taking different, sometimes opposite, lessons from the same event.
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
either he has gone insane, or he thinks he's funny.
If the latter, there is an argument that he's still insane. imitating the posts of somebody who clearly has quite advanced dementia but doing them even worse merely looks stupid.
Hmm not sure. It's mockery. Might cut through.
Also, it's his press office, not his personal account. He's got some energetic kids trolling on his behalf.
Smart politics, in the nominee stakes. He's gone from nowhere, to a serious contender.
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
On a point of pedantry, the first companion was Susan, who was his granddaughter.
Amusingly, and somewhat to support your point, when Carole Ann Ford was asked to reprise her role for the Five Doctors, she was told not to refer to this because 'we don't want people to think of the Doctor having sex.' Her response to laugh maniacally and walk out of the room.
At this point, realising that it would be slightly unfortunate to have a 20th anniversary special without any of the original cast in it, the producer saw sense and gave in.
There was a quite enjoyable audio adventure that went into how/why the original Doctor and Susan left Gallifrey in the first place.
And at the risk of treading on TSE's toes. A story about Biddy Baxter :
”In 1983 I was 19 and had a temporary job in the Children’s TV department at the BBC at Television Centre. There I came across Biddy Baxter. Despite being told that she would ‘eat you up for breakfast’ nothing untoward happened.
“However one day Blue Peter was filming an item on trampolining. Someone asked Biddy if she was going to have a go, to which she gave the immortal response ‘I would but I’m not wearing any knickers and it may not look very nice’.”
While I'm about it - this interview on BBC Scotland with Delia Derbyshire is truly delightful :
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
He was a fine lyricist and the Blockheads were a brilliant “backing band”
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
As a internationalist socialist, he’d probably be cancelled by the current Labour and Tory parties, and the Reformics, You’ve voted for them all, haven’t you?
I’ve also voted Green, UKIP and Mebyon Kernow
Given the chance I’d probably have voted for Eck when he led the SNP
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
He was a fine lyricist and the Blockheads were a brilliant “backing band”
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
Yes, the pink haired brigade would cancel him.
And the line from "Sweet Gene Vincent" - "Will you guess her age when she comes backstage?" may be problematic.
It is and it’s just the beginning. We are entering a new golden age of scientific advance
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
Summer, Buddy Holly The working folly Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
In the wilds of Borneo And the vineyards of Bordeaux Eskimo, Arapaho Move their bodies, to and fro
Not a patch on this verse of poetry.
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
He was a fine lyricist and the Blockheads were a brilliant “backing band”
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
Yes, the pink haired brigade would cancel him.
And the line from "Sweet Gene Vincent" - "Will you guess her age when she comes backstage?" may be problematic.
Rolling Stones ‘Under my Thumb’ sounds like Coercive Control.
The character is named "River Song". The actress is Alex Kingston. When showrunner Steven Moffat took over the show in the early 2010s(?) he turned the traditionally sexless Doctor into somebody who had relationships. One of those relationships was with fellow time-traveller River Song, who was the grown child of two of his companions. The Doctor and River Song were married in an episode I won't name because I have a vestige of pride left. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that both are time-travellers and meet up at asynchronous points in their lives: for example he married her several episodes after watching her die.
On a point of pedantry, the first companion was Susan, who was his granddaughter.
Amusingly, and somewhat to support your point, when Carole Ann Ford was asked to reprise her role for the Five Doctors, she was told not to refer to this because 'we don't want people to think of the Doctor having sex.' Her response to laugh maniacally and walk out of the room.
At this point, realising that it would be slightly unfortunate to have a 20th anniversary special without any of the original cast in it, the producer saw sense and gave in.
There was a quite enjoyable audio adventure that went into how/why the original Doctor and Susan left Gallifrey in the first place.
And at the risk of treading on TSE's toes. A story about Biddy Baxter :
”In 1983 I was 19 and had a temporary job in the Children’s TV department at the BBC at Television Centre. There I came across Biddy Baxter. Despite being told that she would ‘eat you up for breakfast’ nothing untoward happened.
“However one day Blue Peter was filming an item on trampolining. Someone asked Biddy if she was going to have a go, to which she gave the immortal response ‘I would but I’m not wearing any knickers and it may not look very nice’.”
While I'm about it - this interview on BBC Scotland with Delia Derbyshire is truly delightful :
Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
either he has gone insane, or he thinks he's funny.
If the latter, there is an argument that he's still insane. imitating the posts of somebody who clearly has quite advanced dementia but doing them even worse merely looks stupid.
Hmm not sure. It's mockery. Might cut through.
Also, it's his press office, not his personal account. He's got some energetic kids trolling on his behalf.
Smart politics, in the nominee stakes. He's gone from nowhere, to a serious contender.
Seems worth a try on the St Thomas Moore principle that “The devil...the prowde spirite...cannot endure to be mocked.”
It's not as if anyone else has really come up with a better plan.
I just saw the place where Franz Ferdinand was shot.
Terrible to think of all the suffering that bullet unleashed, including the damage to our nation and Empire following our disastrous decision to intervene (though it achieved the almost impossible in shutting the Irish up for eighteen months).
It would be nice to think mankind has learned it lessons, but looking at the world now clearly lots haven't.
And of course people are amazing at taking different, sometimes opposite, lessons from the same event.
The British Empire reached its territorial zenith after WW1.
Comments
Of course, one of the big calls is Iraq. What would the Tories have done had they been in power? Hard to say. But it was very much Brown's missed opportunity. I bet he regrets massively not resigning over it. He might not have been PM, but his reputation would have benefitted greatly.
We are now in a very deep hole and it would take someone so much smarter than Reeves to find a way to tiptoe out of it. Only Osborne has managed to do anything similar in recent times, arguably Lawson, with the help of North Sea Oil, 30 years earlier.
I have sympathy for Reeves, she has a hell of an inheritance and a party who are profoundly delusional. But she must stop making things worse. They are bad enough already.
Its a whimsical track by Wizard Sleeve, I believe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pde2j70eiC8
Is Alex Kingston the actress who got naked in Moll Flanders?
Thanks for the explanation!
IIRC Pascoe, from Dalziel and Pascoe humped her a few times in it. I suspect Dalziel was not up to it, given his physique,
Although it sounds shite it was Shakespeare at his best compared to the dogs doo doo we have had the last few years.
Her actual name is Melody Pond but where she was brought up (the Gamma Forests), there are no ponds, only rivers so it was translated as Song River/River Song thus hiding her identity as daughter of Amy Pond until Moffat dreamt up the idea on the bog
With Brown and Osborne we had dynamic duo relationships where the two parties were almost equal in standing/. Came as a pair that the PM couldn’t drop them without a war but they had very strong opinions on what the treasury was for and should do.
Who else would meet Hitler and decide to go shopping in Nazi Germany.
I have found myself using the site a lot less recently; I still greatly value the quality of discussion especially with those of a different political persuasion to me, but I'm just not sure that there is much of value anyone can really post about the Trumpian brand of proto-fascism, Labour's poor politics, the rape of Gaza etc. What, really, is there to debate other than being provocative for the sake of it?
Incidentally I agree with @Omnium - as someone who is definitely one of the more entrenched I try not to repeat endless left-wing arguments, but we are a very committed bunch. It was ever thus, though, no?
Dr Who has always been dipshit. I'm rewatching Jon Pertwee series. In The Daemons, a time travelling alien is investigating an archaeological dig where they seem to have uncovered another alien, who looks like the Great God Pan for some reason (including furry trousers) and can change size at will. Meanwhile the time travelling alien's disreputable compatiot has shown up, offed the vicar, and created a black magic coven and is somehow summoning said furry alien with cod Crowleyish iincantations*. Subsequently the first time travelling alien is somehow captured during a sort of bondage maypole dance but is released due to an improbable series of plot devices.
That's as far as we have got, but next time the Great God Pan turns up he is going to decide whether to destroy the earth, or give it to the second time travelling alien as his plaything. Presumably neither happen, and this is somehow linked to blowing up a model of the parish church which IIRC was the series finale. Apparently some viewers complained because they thought the BBC had blown up a real one
* actually Mary had a Little Lamb read backwards, although surely it woukd have been easier to just use the Book of Thelema
im watching Monster of Peladon at the moment. Its shit but great fun.
His responses were laced with guilt but also a sort of messianic zeal that was a bit scary. I'm not sure I sensed any regret though. Perhaps it's different now but I doubt it.
The concept of "canon" in Doctor Who is not like other shows.
https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/850202/king-charles-vj-day-message/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgr94xxye2lo
Reasons to be Cheerful, part 3
From a Liberal Democrat perspective, George Osborne is an interesting figure. He spoke kindly of the work of Steve Webb, David Laws and Danny Alexander and indeed I believe he thought the Orange Bookers thinking on pensions was ahead of that of his own team. The financial and philosophical convergence of "liberal conservatism" and Orange Booker liberalism made the Coalition possible.
That's not to denigrate the key role of the personal relationship between David Cameron and Nick Clegg but neither were philosophical powerhouses and indeed were the "front men" of the post-New Labour period. The Coalition response to the events of the GFC and their aftermath has been widely critiqued but at the time reducing the deficit (rather than the debt) was seen as the priority and as economic activity was only slowly recovering, the onus was on reducing public spending to close the gap.
Allister Heath (before he went mad) thought QE a mistake and wanted a return to a more normal monetary policy but Osborne, as a political rather than technocratic Chancellor, recognised low interest rates (while bad for savers) were vital to help hard working families pay their mortgages and reduce levels of personal debt (there was much more concern about that back then).
The 2012 Budget (the omnishambles as it was dubbed) was a personal humiliation but he did much behind the scenes to promote "his" backbenchers into junior ministerial positions and once the 2015 election delivered a majority, Osborne, if not actually primus inter pares, was an extremely powerful figure.
Had the EU Referendum turned out differently, it's very likely Osborne would have succeeded Cameron in 2017 or 2018 and could well have won a mandate. How he would have dealt with Covid is another matter.
Once the Referendum was lost and Cameron walked, it was the turn of those in the Conservative side who had never wanted the Coalition to take their revenge and Osborne was unceremoniously sacked by Theresa May. That was the end of his political career and a tenure as Editor of the Evening Standard wasn't a great success.
Could he have stood for London Mayor in 2020? Possibly but with Covid, would he have beaten Sadiq Khan?
All political careers end in failure and Osborne's is no exception. He had a long spell near to the top but with the EU Referendum result, the party of which he was so important moved in a very different direction and he found himself left behind. Whether his brand of Toryism could make a comeback one day I'm not sure - there are echoes in some of the comments by Badenoch on reducing the deficit and debt.
The working folly
Jump back in the alley
and nanny goats
Clearly a smart guy, but smart enough to work out his mistakes ?
There has always been a strong anti-Party mood.. It became darker and angrier after the GFC in 2008 and then with the EU Referendum but this has never been a site which has supported one party but rather not supported any of them from time to time with certain parties (usually the ones in Government) coming in for most stick. There are some posters who criticise all parties while others save their criticism for one or two parties.
One can only go by posts rather than by posters and the clique who post on a daily basis are not representative of anything other than themselves - to be fair, no one claims this site is some kind of political weathervane (it isn't). It's just a group of (mainly) middle aged and older white men having a whinge and a moan about politics and a host of other things.
Nothing wrong with that and there's plenty of knowledge about - we don't do enough political debate or political betting but politics markets are often dependent on elections and absent a GE or a good by-election, it can be very quiet. The one thing which hasn't changed is the over-analysis of opinion polls.
We've been cursed to live in interesting times and politics is volatile in a way it hasn't been for decades. We can look back at 2005 as though it were a lifetime ago and even 2015 seems ancient history. The last 20 years has seen the evolution of the 24 hour news cycle and of social media which makes political discourse a very different animal.
And the vineyards of Bordeaux
Eskimo, Arapaho
Move their bodies, to and fro
Swings and roundabouts.
Genius lyricist, would have been in his mid 80s today.
Sounds from our youth.
Baby Shark: South Korean court rejects US composer’s claim song was plagiarised
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/14/baby-shark-song-south-korean-court-rejects-us-composers-claim-catchy-tune-was-plagiarised
Not quite so genius lyrics.
"Doo doo doo doo doo doo"...
There's plenty of real world stuff to do that with.
https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/um-bongo-tropical-juice-drink-1-litre/102101.html
https://youtu.be/wYj5o4kQsXs?si=f6T1e4Lngf6vCd0g
@GovPressOffice
BEYOND THE BEAUTIFUL, “PERFECT MAPS” — DONALD J. TRUMP HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. SOON, I — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — WILL BE SHARING RECORDS THAT SHOULD CONCERN HIM.
I DIDN’T WANT TO RELEASE THEM — OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (NOT THE PRESIDENT) — BUT MIKE “LITTLE MAN” JOHNSON’S HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THEM!!! WHOOPS.
WON’T BE PRETTY FOR DONNIE J. MANY ARE SAYING IT COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN HIS LONG CAREER OF LYING. THIS AND THE MAPS. “IT’S OVER.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1956052782383030564
He says all the right (in both senses) things about the Police and lack of community but it's the same old story of long on diagnosis (whingeing) and short on treatment (practical, legal and cost effective solutions).
Everyone wants more Police in London but from where do these new recruits come? Who trains and pays them? The operational stations were first closed by Boris Johnson and now by Sadiq Khan despite political resistance. Will Skinner find new operational local Police premises, where, how much will he spend on making them fit for purpose?
What will he do about fare evasion, rough sleeping, addiction, development - how would he work with the Boroughs?
"Had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina
A seasoned-up hyena could not have been more obscener
She took me to the cleaners and other misdemeanours
But I got right up between her rum and her Ribena"
From Billericay Dickie.
I guess it was from a different time.
Dury was someone I made an exception for.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nq9KrTWjxNU
https://x.com/tonylapidus/status/1956057162716774559?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
I bought a pretty but kitsch Murano glass bonbon bowl (1960s)
Pleasant. £30 on eBay
But inside, in that bonbon bowl, you can see:
A carved stone arrowhead from Karahan Tepe (10,000BC)
A chunk of pottery from the now desolated Egyptian monotheist capital of Akhetaten (1350BC)
An iron ancient Greek arrowhead (500BC)
A chunk of vase handle from the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Jerusalem (ancient, but date uncertain)
Fragments of green Roman glass from a dig in York (300 AD)
An Anglo Saxon penny from Northumberland (850AD)
An officer’s whistle used in the trenches of the First World War (1916)
And most of them I found myself, in situ
Edit - he's ok, ball seems to gone through his helmet, and smashed him flush on the nose.
They played Scotland in the soccer world cup in 74.
They weren’t very good,
I’ve just been listening to some of his best songs. I do wonder if he’d be cancelled today. Such is the dire state of things
Here's the thing though: does Newsom have much appeal outside San Francisco and environs?
Amusingly, and somewhat to support your point, when Carole Ann Ford was asked to reprise her role for the Five Doctors, she was told not to refer to this because 'we don't want people to think of the Doctor having sex.' Her response to laugh maniacally and walk out of the room.
At this point, realising that it would be slightly unfortunate to have a 20th anniversary special without any of the original cast in it, the producer saw sense and gave in.
If the latter, there is an argument that he's still insane. imitating the posts of somebody who clearly has quite advanced dementia but doing them even worse merely looks stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcoKJdo1LQk&list=RDVcoKJdo1LQk&start_radio=1
"Ian Dury and The Blockheads - I Want To Be Straight"
I am available for counselling at an exorbitant rate.
Explains why I’ve never sired kids I guess.
But he's doing himself no harm in the nominee stakes.
The Democrats clearly want someone to take the fight to Trump.
They sent ICE to the press conference.
There must've been something 'personal' behind it all. Some irrational, pathological hatred somewhere in there, for reasons we don't yet know.
You’ve voted for them all, haven’t you?
I just saw the place where Franz Ferdinand was shot.
Terrible to think of all the suffering that bullet unleashed, including the damage to our nation and Empire following our disastrous decision to intervene (though it achieved the almost impossible in shutting the Irish up for eighteen months).
It would be nice to think mankind has learned it lessons, but looking at the world now clearly lots haven't.
And of course people are amazing at taking different, sometimes opposite, lessons from the same event.
He's got some energetic kids trolling on his behalf.
Smart politics, in the nominee stakes.
He's gone from nowhere, to a serious contender.
Possibly I'm thinking of this : https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gsw5ym
And at the risk of treading on TSE's toes. A story about Biddy Baxter :
”In 1983 I was 19 and had a temporary job in the Children’s TV department at the BBC at Television Centre. There I came across Biddy Baxter. Despite being told that she would ‘eat you up for breakfast’ nothing untoward happened.
“However one day Blue Peter was filming an item on trampolining. Someone asked Biddy if she was going to have a go, to which she gave the immortal response ‘I would but I’m not wearing any knickers and it may not look very nice’.”
While I'm about it - this interview on BBC Scotland with Delia Derbyshire is truly delightful :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Fw5aTz_2I
Given the chance I’d probably have voted for Eck when he led the SNP
Must-watch dramas, films on Korea’s independence struggle
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20250813/80th-liberation-day-must-watch-dramas-films-on-koreas-independence-struggle
I recommend Mr Sunshine.
Very good series.
https://x.com/kobeissiletter/status/1956087378134884627?s=61
It's not as if anyone else has really come up with a better plan.