Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Whilst English is the best, the French language is the most beautiful, especially when cursing. It is like wiping your arse with silk.
I'm riven with guilt having read Laura Kuenssberg's tweets on the summit. Imagine all the unemployment among the media if EU summits didn't include a British PM fighting to save us from the euro-sausage.
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Whilst English is the best, the French language is the most beautiful, especially when cursing. It is like wiping your arse with silk.
So shiny but not very absorbant so in the final analysis showy and useless?
To return to the discussion about productivity from earlier today the ONS have released an updated analysis of public sector productivity:
This paragraph sums it up:
"Previously published figures showed total public service productivity increasing in 2011 and 2012, after a period of limited growth between 2004 and 2010. Revisions in this article show this increase to be smaller than previously published, mostly as a result of methods changes in quality adjustment and the treatment of academies in the production of estimates for public service education. Annual average productivity growth has been revised downwards from 0.2% per year between 1997 and 2012 to 0.0%."
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Tonight could be one of those nights that defines a country's success in the European Song Contest. Things just got real for some of you.
Did you see the story on Sky earlier that they're planning on changing the scoring system? Hope it doesn't bugger up the tenner that I've got on the Russkies to win it this year.
I did. Not keen on it.
Neither am I. My choice would be that all tracks are released 6 months before the final and the results are based on commercial sales. Let the free market decide.
So, more pointless theatricals from Cameron, hoping that "looking tough" in front of Europe is going to get him more support.
Trouble is, we've been here before. The previous flounce didn't last long and apart from a blip in the polls, had no significance at all.
I sometimes forget Cameron isn't there trying to get the best deal for Britain but to try to keep the Conservative party together.
I'm sure I'll awaken in the morning to the triumphalism of his supporters telling us what a hero he's been. As always, the Devil will be in the detail.
The more I think about it, the more I think the Bush family will vote for Clinton in a Clinton-Trump battle. Obviously there's no way to test or check this... but I don't think @HYUFD theory on this is too far fetched.
The Clinton/Bush dynasties kind of need each other (It won't be Jeb this time), can see Chelsea running for POTUS in the next 30 years though... A Trump administration could get very inconvienient for two of the US royal families. (The Kennedys I guess another one, though they seem to have mostly departed this mortal coil...)
Jeb surely backs Rubio if he flops in South Carolina this weekend.
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Well, yes the best modern Labour leader. I don't even like Blair, but I'd say that. Given the various different options, how many are going to say a bunch of flops who couldn't win a GE are better than Blair, who won three? It doesn't mean that they actually like Blair, or that they think they he was a great PM.
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
I voted for Blair three times and exactly as you described. First two times was positive viote but not third. Thought he screwed up over Iraq and we needed a change but didn't want Howard in office. On reflection Blairs record is even worse. The deceit about Iraq is major negative, they overspent, and they didn't respond to working class worries about immigration soon enough.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Faisal Islam Two EU ministers tell Sky News: David Cameron asked for an emergency brake lasting 13 years plus - a hardening of his position
I would love to see Dave explain how this emergency brake will reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. It is so pointless yet he is making such a big deal about it.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Sunil: Remember back to your early teachings. "All who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the REMAINERS.
TSE: The REMAINERS use their power for good.
Sunil: Good is a point of view, Anakin, er, I mean TSE. The LEAVERS and the REMAINERS are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.
TSE: The LEAVERS rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves.
Sunil: And the REMAINERS don't?
TSE: The REMAINERS are selfless... they only care about others.
Sunil: [looking a little frustrated] Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Smithson "the Wise"?
TSE: No.
Sunil: I thought not. It's not a story the LibDems would tell you. It's a blogging legend. Darth Smithson was a LibDem blogger who lived many years ago. He was so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create... AV threads. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying from boredom on Thursday Nights.
TSE: He could do that? He could actually save people from boring themselves to death?
Sunil: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many policy platforms some consider to be unelectable.
TSE: What happened to him?
Sunil: He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then one night, his apprentice wiped his servers' hard drives while he slept. It's ironic that he could save others from obscurity, but not himself.
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Wasn't it Harry Flashman who said that Persian was the most beautiful language ?
Faisal Islam Two EU ministers tell Sky News: David Cameron asked for an emergency brake lasting 13 years plus - a hardening of his position
I would love to see Dave explain how this emergency brake will reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. It is so pointless yet he is making such a big deal about it.
Quite. It's irrelevant how long it lasts if around a dozen others have to agree to pulling the brake in the first place. Of all the nonsense in this renegotiation this is the worst. We are being taken for utter fools.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
"Widow, 92, must return to South Africa after losing deportation battle Myrtle Cothill told she must leave her daughter’s care next week and return to her birth country of South Africa, where she has no relatives"
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Whilst English is the best, the French language is the most beautiful, especially when cursing. It is like wiping your arse with silk.
Nonsense! French is, of course, the language naturally understood by all cats (as per the correct version of Charles V's little saying) and so is very good for those things that cats like, food, lazing around in comfort and shagging. However, for top-line cursing one needs something harder, more guttural - English is very good but German is probably better (especially with those lovely long compound verbs) but Russian is probably the best (Dutch might be a good second, and with the additional benefit that very few people will understand you).
That is for plain cursing, but for insults one needs something more. A Language rich in alliteration, imagery and metaphor is what is needed. Here I would have thought English reigned supreme and it probably does in the European languages. I am told though by people who know about this stuff that Persian and some of its neighbouring languages are even better.
So, Mr Eagles, you silly English knight, I say "Pah" to you etc ....
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
"Widow, 92, must return to South Africa after losing deportation battle Myrtle Cothill told she must leave her daughter’s care next week and return to her birth country of South Africa, where she has no relatives"
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Sunil: Remember back to your early teachings. "All who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the REMAINERS.
TSE: The REMAINERS use their power for good.
Sunil: Good is a point of view, Anakin, er, I mean TSE. The LEAVERS and the REMAINERS are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.
TSE: The LEAVERS rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves.
Sunil: And the REMAINERS don't?
TSE: The REMAINERS are selfless... they only care about others.
Sunil: [looking a little frustrated] Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Smithson "the Wise"?
TSE: No.
Sunil: I thought not. It's not a story the LibDems would tell you. It's a blogging legend. Darth Smithson was a LibDem blogger who lived many years ago. He was so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create... AV threads. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying from boredom on Thursday Nights.
TSE: He could do that? He could actually save people from boring themselves to death?
Sunil: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many policy platforms some consider to be unelectable.
TSE: What happened to him?
Sunil: He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then one night, his apprentice wiped his servers' hard drives while he slept. It's ironic that he could save others from obscurity, but not himself.
TSE: Is it possible to learn this power?
Sunil: Not from a LibDem...
That was really rather good, Cap'n Doc. Thank you.
I would love to see Dave explain how this emergency brake will reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. It is so pointless yet he is making such a big deal about it.
Yep, but it's a big sounding number isn't it? '13 years'
And the voters are too stupid or uninterested to see through it. Or so the PM and his cheerleaders hope...
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Wasn't it Harry Flashman who said that Persian was the most beautiful language ?
"Widow, 92, must return to South Africa after losing deportation battle Myrtle Cothill told she must leave her daughter’s care next week and return to her birth country of South Africa, where she has no relatives"
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Wasn't it Harry Flashman who said that Persian was the most beautiful language ?
Was this the episode you heard: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBy07GaFMw
For those who want to hear some Persian poetry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WckiDUODGQ
I think it might well have been Flashman, was it in "Flashman at the Charge"?
As to the in Our Time episode it wasn't the one you mentioned but the one broadcast on 11/2/16 dealing with the poet Rumi.
Thanks for the link to that poetry "broadcast", beautiful stuff.
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Sunil: Remember back to your early teachings. "All who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the REMAINERS.
TSE: The REMAINERS use their power for good.
Sunil: Good is a point of view, Anakin, er, I mean TSE. The LEAVERS and the REMAINERS are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.
TSE: The LEAVERS rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves.
Sunil: And the REMAINERS don't?
TSE: The REMAINERS are selfless... they only care about others.
Sunil: [looking a little frustrated] Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Smithson "the Wise"?
TSE: No.
Sunil: I thought not. It's not a story the LibDems would tell you. It's a blogging legend. Darth Smithson was a LibDem blogger who lived many years ago. He was so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create... AV threads. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying from boredom on Thursday Nights.
TSE: He could do that? He could actually save people from boring themselves to death?
Sunil: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many policy platforms some consider to be unelectable.
TSE: What happened to him?
Sunil: He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then one night, his apprentice wiped his servers' hard drives while he slept. It's ironic that he could save others from obscurity, but not himself.
TSE: Is it possible to learn this power?
Sunil: Not from a LibDem...
That was really rather good, Cap'n Doc. Thank you.
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Well, yes the best modern Labour leader. I don't even like Blair, but I'd say that. Given the various different options, how many are going to say a bunch of flops who couldn't win a GE are better than Blair, who won three? It doesn't mean that they actually like Blair, or that they think they he was a great PM.
Blair himself, as he is now, is retired and post his political expiry date. However, Blair in his prime was an absolutely formidable politician and if 1990s Blair could be reincarnated in a different body today s/he would still wipe the floor with all comers.
As to whether he was a great Prime Minister, I would say that he personified the mood of his times. The break in the voice, "It is the right thing to do", "pretty straight kind of guy" - that, bullshit and all, is what our age is. He may not have been great but he was exceptional. We won't see someone who connects with the public like that for a very long time.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
Oh I missed that. what thread was that on?
About 7pm last night - look at the archive on Martin Armstrong's website.
On another note about our courts, Melanie Shaw got a 3 year suspended sentence today. Its an absolute disgrace how she has been treated after blowing the whistle about Beechwood children's home in Nottinghamshire:
Christ, Mandelson on Newsnight now encapsulating all of Remain's problems. Patronising, sneering towards anyone who takes a different view, saying Britain is "too poor and too wee" to survive on its own.
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Wasn't it Harry Flashman who said that Persian was the most beautiful language ?
Was this the episode you heard: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBy07GaFMw
For those who want to hear some Persian poetry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WckiDUODGQ
I think it might well have been Flashman, was it in "Flashman at the Charge"?
As to the in Our Time episode it wasn't the one you mentioned but the one broadcast on 11/2/16 dealing with the poet Rumi.
Thanks for the link to that poetry "broadcast", beautiful stuff.
It was 'Flashman at the Charge', IMO perhaps the best of the series.
And thanks for mentioning the 'In Our Time' series - I've never heard of it before but I see there's plenty on YouTube to listen to:
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
Oh I missed that. what thread was that on?
About 7pm last night - look at the archive on Martin Armstrong's website.
On another note about our courts, Melanie Shaw got a 3 year suspended sentence today. Its an absolute disgrace how she has been treated after blowing the whistle about Beechwood children's home in Nottinghamshire:
FPT, that's the funny thing about Blair. Most people regard him, rightly, as a wholly despicable creature, who lacks any sense of right or wrong, the Gollum of British politics. But, Cameron and Osborne adore him, as do a key group of swing voters in marginal seats.
Do swing voters really like Blair these days? In 1997 and 2001, yes - but by 2005 it seemed as if he was just the least worst option. But it's interesting that Labour supporters who have that view on Blair often get criticised.
Well, yes the best modern Labour leader. I don't even like Blair, but I'd say that. Given the various different options, how many are going to say a bunch of flops who couldn't win a GE are better than Blair, who won three? It doesn't mean that they actually like Blair, or that they think they he was a great PM.
Blair himself, as he is now, is retired and post his political expiry date. However, Blair in his prime was an absolutely formidable politician and if 1990s Blair could be reincarnated in a different body today s/he would still wipe the floor with all comers.
As to whether he was a great Prime Minister, I would say that he personified the mood of his times. The break in the voice, "It is the right thing to do", "pretty straight kind of guy" - that, bullshit and all, is what our age is. He may not have been great but he was exceptional. We won't see someone who connects with the public like that for a very long time.
I think Blair was a good politician (especially, it seems in the 1990s), but overall a pretty poor PM. His successors probably won't be remembered as anything remarkable, and are mediocre politicians.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
Oh I missed that. what thread was that on?
About 7pm last night - look at the archive on Martin Armstrong's website.
On another note about our courts, Melanie Shaw got a 3 year suspended sentence today. Its an absolute disgrace how she has been treated after blowing the whistle about Beechwood children's home in Nottinghamshire:
I really can't believe anyone with an IQ would link to that website. Have you looked at it?
Some of the language is rather crude I grant you, but the secret family courts are one of the worst aspects of Britain in 2016 and all of the abuse of children that goes with it.
Faisal Islam Two EU ministers tell Sky News: David Cameron asked for an emergency brake lasting 13 years plus - a hardening of his position
I would love to see Dave explain how this emergency brake will reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. It is so pointless yet he is making such a big deal about it.
Quite. It's irrelevant how long it lasts if around a dozen others have to agree to pulling the brake in the first place. Of all the nonsense in this renegotiation this is the worst. We are being taken for utter fools.
And if the brake is to last longer, then the greater the likelihood that it will never get that approval to be applied in the first place.
And I assume the much vaunted but now hardly-ever-mentioned "red card" is now widely accepted - even by our side - to be worthless?
"3 million jobs" has become a joke phrase judging by the Question Time audience reaction to June Sarpong.
What happened?
She got shown up by Theo Paphitis
Just went on Twitter. Looks like she tried the old 3 million jobs lie. Iain Begg must be getting really annoyed with how his research has been twisted to suit the Eurofanatic agenda.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
Two other scenarios:
(3) Cameron does the best deal he thinks he can tomorrow, reasoning that getting going with the campaign will be better than two, four or more weeks of listening to the Sun, Mail, Express, Telegraph and increasingly backbenchers and perhaps ministers publicly ratchet up the pressure, then coming back with something not-too-ideal anyway.
(4) He says 'f*ck it' and backs Leave.
The EU leaders will not want to be discussing Polish benefit repatriations while there is a migrant crisis unsolved. This is Cameron's moment and the EU's indulgence on the subject. After tomorrow, is ceases to be agenda item 1 and will have to fight for its place alongside everything else. In other words, if the deal isn't done tomorrow (or Saturday, if they decide to stay the extra day), I don't expect a June referendum.
Isn't scenario 1 impossible if the date is to be the 23rd June? Thought the referendum needed a minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
Oh I missed that. what thread was that on?
About 7pm last night - look at the archive on Martin Armstrong's website.
On another note about our courts, Melanie Shaw got a 3 year suspended sentence today. Its an absolute disgrace how she has been treated after blowing the whistle about Beechwood children's home in Nottinghamshire:
I really can't believe anyone with an IQ would link to that website. Have you looked at it?
Some of the language is rather crude I grant you, but the secret family courts are one of the worst aspects of Britain in 2016 and all of the abuse of children that goes with it.
"Nottingham is run by filthy people" Get a grip!!!
"3 million jobs" has become a joke phrase judging by the Question Time audience reaction to June Sarpong.
What happened?
She got shown up by Theo Paphitis
Just went on Twitter. Looks like she tried the old 3 million jobs lie. Iain Begg must be getting really annoyed with how his research has been twisted to suit the Eurofanatic agenda.
Theo came back with the five million EU jobs depend on us, Sarpong is a ludicrous fool
Very possibly but I am told that Persian is the most beautiful, and having listened to some Persian poetry on the wireless last week ("In our Time" on Radio 4, worth the licence fee on its own) I can see where such a view comes from.
Wasn't it Harry Flashman who said that Persian was the most beautiful language ?
Was this the episode you heard: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBy07GaFMw
For those who want to hear some Persian poetry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WckiDUODGQ
I think it might well have been Flashman, was it in "Flashman at the Charge"?
As to the in Our Time episode it wasn't the one you mentioned but the one broadcast on 11/2/16 dealing with the poet Rumi.
Thanks for the link to that poetry "broadcast", beautiful stuff.
It was 'Flashman at the Charge', IMO perhaps the best of the series.
And thanks for mentioning the 'In Our Time' series - I've never heard of it before but I see there's plenty on YouTube to listen to:
...
Flashman at the Charge the best of the series? Not so sure about that; it is certainly very good and a lot better than some of the others. However, I reckon "Flashman in the Great Game" beat its by several lengths and "Flashman and the Dragon" noses it back into third place.
As for the the "In Our Time" programme, it is superb. The Thursday morning 45 minute edition (not the cut down repeat on Saturday evening) is, as I say, worth the Licence Fee all on its own. Even when the topic is not something I would normally be interested in (e.g. an obscure 13th century Persian poet) The format of the programme manages to grab my attention and I cannot help but learn.
(1) Cameron finds it impossible tomorrow to reach an acceptable deal and returns to the UK with great drama pending another conference in a couple of weeks time.
(2) Cameron gives up the renegotiation as a bad and embarrassing job and accepts that he has to win the referendum on the state of the EU as it is having demonstrated how hard satisfactory change is. A less than optimal position.
I would say the odds are at least 80:20 in favour of option (1). Unfortunately this means another 2 weeks of non stop EU threads. You start to get a bit jealous of those rhino don't you?
minimum period.
Not if the "emergency" summit is in the next couple of weeks.
They'll need the emergency summit for lack of confidence in the Euro if what I posted last night comes to pass in March.
Oh I missed that. what thread was that on?
About 7pm last night - look at the archive on Martin Armstrong's website.
On another note about our courts, Melanie Shaw got a 3 year suspended sentence today. Its an absolute disgrace how she has been treated after blowing the whistle about Beechwood children's home in Nottinghamshire:
I really can't believe anyone with an IQ would link to that website. Have you looked at it?
Some of the language is rather crude I grant you, but the secret family courts are one of the worst aspects of Britain in 2016 and all of the abuse of children that goes with it.
"Nottingham is run by filthy people" Get a grip!!!
I have friends in the area who have informed me about the goings on there. You should do some research, and you'd be shocked by what you find. Had you even heard of the Melanie Shaw case before tonight?
I feel like Stuart Rose and June Sarpong are on a joint-mission in this campaign to show why we should leave the Politics to the Professional Politicians.
Christ, Mandelson on Newsnight now encapsulating all of Remain's problems. Patronising, sneering towards anyone who takes a different view, saying Britain is "too poor and too wee" to survive on its own.
If the three million jobs claim is now widely derided for the myth it is, Remain campaigners could go back to one of these dodgy claims mentioned by Spectator.
"It has been making two main claims: that EU membership is worth £3,000 a year per household and saves the average person £450 a year through lower prices. One source is supposedly a 2013 ‘study’ by the Confederation of British Industry — which turns out not to be a study, but an exercise in cherry-picking other pieces of research. The £450 figure can be traced to a European Commission publication, which, in turn, came from a American paper called ‘Globalisation and the Gains from Variety’ — an attempt to quantify the benefits of -globalisation to American, not European, consumers."
Faisal Islam Two EU ministers tell Sky News: David Cameron asked for an emergency brake lasting 13 years plus - a hardening of his position
I would love to see Dave explain how this emergency brake will reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. It is so pointless yet he is making such a big deal about it.
Quite. It's irrelevant how long it lasts if around a dozen others have to agree to pulling the brake in the first place. Of all the nonsense in this renegotiation this is the worst. We are being taken for utter fools.
And if the brake is to last longer, then the greater the likelihood that it will never get that approval to be applied in the first place.
And I assume the much vaunted but now hardly-ever-mentioned "red card" is now widely accepted - even by our side - to be worthless?
When fancy names start getting used - 'emergency brake', 'red card' - you know there's no substance behind the style.
Yes, he was very good on This Week a while back too. One of the best of the new SNP intake. Law of averages, I suppose, they can't all be under investigation...
Yes, he was very good on This Week a while back too. One of the best of the new SNP intake. Law of averages, I suppose, they can't all be under investigation...
John Nicolson? Yeah, I quite enjoyed his appearance a few weeks ago, and he's been on the Daily Politics a couple of times. I suspect he'll be back
Comments
EU = Luftwaffe
This paragraph sums it up:
"Previously published figures showed total public service productivity increasing in 2011 and 2012, after a period of limited growth between 2004 and 2010. Revisions in this article show this increase to be smaller than previously published, mostly as a result of methods changes in quality adjustment and the treatment of academies in the production of estimates for public service education. Annual average productivity growth has been revised downwards from 0.2% per year between 1997 and 2012 to 0.0%."
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_433554.pdf
Annual average productivity growth has been revised downwards from 0.2% per year between 1997 and 2012 to 0.0%.
My choice would be that all tracks are released 6 months before the final and the results are based on commercial sales. Let the free market decide.
Trouble is, we've been here before. The previous flounce didn't last long and apart from a blip in the polls, had no significance at all.
I sometimes forget Cameron isn't there trying to get the best deal for Britain but to try to keep the Conservative party together.
I'm sure I'll awaken in the morning to the triumphalism of his supporters telling us what a hero he's been. As always, the Devil will be in the detail.
Two EU ministers tell Sky News: David Cameron asked for an emergency brake lasting 13 years plus - a hardening of his position
The Clinton/Bush dynasties kind of need each other (It won't be Jeb this time), can see Chelsea running for POTUS in the next 30 years though... A Trump administration could get very inconvienient for two of the US royal families. (The Kennedys I guess another one, though they seem to have mostly departed this mortal coil...)
Jeb surely backs Rubio if he flops in South Carolina this weekend.
TSE: The REMAINERS use their power for good.
Sunil: Good is a point of view, Anakin, er, I mean TSE. The LEAVERS and the REMAINERS are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.
TSE: The LEAVERS rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves.
Sunil: And the REMAINERS don't?
TSE: The REMAINERS are selfless... they only care about others.
Sunil: [looking a little frustrated] Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Smithson "the Wise"?
TSE: No.
Sunil: I thought not. It's not a story the LibDems would tell you. It's a blogging legend. Darth Smithson was a LibDem blogger who lived many years ago. He was so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create... AV threads. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying from boredom on Thursday Nights.
TSE: He could do that? He could actually save people from boring themselves to death?
Sunil: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many policy platforms some consider to be unelectable.
TSE: What happened to him?
Sunil: He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then one night, his apprentice wiped his servers' hard drives while he slept. It's ironic that he could save others from obscurity, but not himself.
TSE: Is it possible to learn this power?
Sunil: Not from a LibDem...
Was this the episode you heard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBy07GaFMw
For those who want to hear some Persian poetry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WckiDUODGQ
Myrtle Cothill told she must leave her daughter’s care next week and return to her birth country of South Africa, where she has no relatives"
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/18/widow-92-return-south-africa-deportation-battle-myrtle-cothill
That is for plain cursing, but for insults one needs something more. A Language rich in alliteration, imagery and metaphor is what is needed. Here I would have thought English reigned supreme and it probably does in the European languages. I am told though by people who know about this stuff that Persian and some of its neighbouring languages are even better.
So, Mr Eagles, you silly English knight, I say "Pah" to you etc ....
Posted response end of last thread but on bb and too tired to repost
Insert your...gag...here. https://t.co/24JFhjC7mq
Friday's Daily Mail:
Face that says it all#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #euref pic.twitter.com/aRxvukNX2f
https://twitter.com/suttonnick/status/700445531613634560/photo/1
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/700447328625410048
Yep, but it's a big sounding number isn't it? '13 years'
And the voters are too stupid or uninterested to see through it. Or so the PM and his cheerleaders hope...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language
As to the in Our Time episode it wasn't the one you mentioned but the one broadcast on 11/2/16 dealing with the poet Rumi.
Thanks for the link to that poetry "broadcast", beautiful stuff.
As to whether he was a great Prime Minister, I would say that he personified the mood of his times. The break in the voice, "It is the right thing to do", "pretty straight kind of guy" - that, bullshit and all, is what our age is. He may not have been great but he was exceptional. We won't see someone who connects with the public like that for a very long time.
On another note about our courts, Melanie Shaw got a 3 year suspended sentence today. Its an absolute disgrace how she has been treated after blowing the whistle about Beechwood children's home in Nottinghamshire:
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/02/519439.html
Latinos in the 2016 Election: Nevada https://t.co/DjP47ieokW https://t.co/5sVuWJZST2
And thanks for mentioning the 'In Our Time' series - I've never heard of it before but I see there's plenty on YouTube to listen to:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=in+our+time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Iranian_languages
Arf - good line from Nige.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/markets-by-sector/foreign-exchange/euro/is-the-pending-euro-collapse-on-target-from-our-2011-forecast-of-2016-202/
and:
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/future-forecasts/euro-near-collapse/
Serenity starts at 11.50, however
And I assume the much vaunted but now hardly-ever-mentioned "red card" is now widely accepted - even by our side - to be worthless?
US airstrikes destroy $500,000,000 in ISIS cash reserves in Iraq and Syria: https://t.co/HBf1AY3Up7 https://t.co/53uXTQ4910
As for the the "In Our Time" programme, it is superb. The Thursday morning 45 minute edition (not the cut down repeat on Saturday evening) is, as I say, worth the Licence Fee all on its own. Even when the topic is not something I would normally be interested in (e.g. an obscure 13th century Persian poet) The format of the programme manages to grab my attention and I cannot help but learn.
Dimbleby now reduced to begging the audience for Remain contributions #bbcqt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Z6ODjfj2I
Ding dong https://t.co/lTNCOAPrXI
"It has been making two main claims: that EU membership is worth £3,000 a year per household and saves the average person £450 a year through lower prices. One source is supposedly a 2013 ‘study’ by the Confederation of British Industry — which turns out not to be a study, but an exercise in cherry-picking other pieces of research. The £450 figure can be traced to a European Commission publication, which, in turn, came from a American paper called ‘Globalisation and the Gains from Variety’ — an attempt to quantify the benefits of -globalisation to American, not European, consumers."
https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/700458738860355585
https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/700458861564665856
Britain Elects @britainelects
Amersham Town (Chiltern) result:
CON: 50.2% (+11.6)
LDEM: 36.3% (+3.3)
UKIP: 6.9% (-7.4)
LAB: 6.6% (-7.6)
Kippers down again...