Hello everyone: has anyone come across this website?: http://www.infowars.com/
I'm not a big fan of Conspiracy "theories" but the best exposees of the shenanigans going on in the USA usually come from those who actually live there.
BTW: if the bankerss are trousering their bonuses yet again, that must mean they have managed to get their train wreck back on the rails.
Ergo, since we taxpayers have a share in some of them, we can expect a return on our investment, no?
And if this is really the case then the savage cuts are not necessary after all.
That's my logic anyway but what would I know?
I'm sure there are people on this site who can explain to me why I'm so thick! 18 January, 2011 01:18
Sheff - I read the article you mention earlier and found the oddest thing was that Americans rate the armaments industry as their most trusted "brand."
Bizarre beyond belief.
Yeah, reading your comment I thought it was bizarre beyond belief, too. Frankly, most Americans probably don't give a second thought to the armaments industr, so the notion that we would consider it our most trusted "brand" (I assume you meant what we would consider the American industry/business most respected outside the US??) was just ludicrous. So I read the article. I assume you were referring to this paragraph:
The difference of course is that the MIC basks in the reflected glory of the military, shown by poll after poll to be the most trusted institution in the land. In terms of trust and admiration, the health insurance and drug companies rank right down there with Wall Street and the banks.
Atomboy -- this is saying that it is the military that is "shown by poll after poll to be the most trusted institution in the land" -- not the armaments industry. There is actually quite a lot of difference.
It is mostly only Congress that is in love with America's defence contractors. I'd wager that, if you polled most Americans about what they thing about companies like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins, etc. it would be far more negative than positive. I think most Americans see defence contractors as grossly overcharging the government.
Not posting much due to an unexpected shitty turn. Lost a good friend and neighbour the other day, Mrs B's buddy, and my pal too at the age of 56. Good hearted woman with a big smile and an optimistic outlook. RIP Kara.
medve--Good to see you back on form here. We've missed you .
deano--Glad you're back too, almost like old home week here. Feels good. Let's hope Mungo leads you to the right one.
Paul--I think your persistence with the issues on Cif are admirable and worth chasing. Good on you mate.
Boudican and Medve from a day or two ago - condolences on your sad losses.
Montana
Thanks for picking me up on this, quite rightly.
I will be completely honest, although I know it will sound like an excuse.
I skimmed some of the article and was astonished at what I thought I had read and intended to go back and look properly, which I didn't. When Sheff referred to it, I made my post, thinking that if I had got the wrong end of the stick, someone would point it out, which you have done.
Certainly lazy and clumsy on my part and probably goes to show how easily misinformation can be spread both unintentionally and deliberately.
However, the military and the armaments industry do have a type of symbiotic relationship to say the least and it is interesting that the military brand is also a throwaway commodity - just like in Britain - where the fine young heroic soldiers who are sent to war with fanfares and flags and cheers and waves are immediately jettisoned and discarded once they have been used.
Clive Stafford Smith said in his book Bad Men: Guantanamo Bay and the Secret Prisons that there is a tacit expectation within the American military that they will take on anyone and fight, as long as everyone abides by the rule that none of their soldiers can be harmed.
The fear most other combatants have when fighting alongside the American military would seem to be that they will be the victims of American "friendly fire" rather than the efforts of the enemy, so I don't think it is a brand which has much international acclaim.
As for the armaments industry overcharging the government, this is also true here. However, it might be better looked at as the armaments and military enterprises sucking up vast seas of money from the people which could have been used for the benefit of the people, which ends up being used to fund the lavish lifestyles of the said armaments bosses and the killing of Johnny Foreigners who are stupid enough to be living above American oil in lands far, far away.
I am absolutely sure you are right in saying that most Americans do not give a thought for the arms industry and if they did, would not think especially well of it.
However, I think most Americans are probably proud of the power and might of their country, the fact that it is the current ne plus ultra in global wealth and the ability to crush any and all foes with its stated policy of using massive force from the outset of any conflict.
The two seem to go somewhat clingingly, inseperably hand in hand.
Anyway, I know you are no great cheerleader for the American "World Police" role, so as I said, you were quite right to point out my unintentional distortion of the article.
Paul
Thanks for the kind words yesterday.
I don't think Natalie Handbag would want to welcome us back with soft squeezy cuddles and little wet kisses, even if asked.
I think the cullings and occasional assassinations behind the shed are just what she wants. Has she ever responded to the overwhelming dissatisfaction with moderation or simply given the moderators more and better tools to ensure they can zap anyone before they can even get a word out?
It doesn't take long for the desire to go back to evaporate anyway, which is why she has to sit at the edge of the filthy puddle which is CiF and croon and wail like a Siren to entice the unwary or desperate into blurting out anything which tops up the word count for the week.
It's the old "Be careful who you upset on the way up..." thing.
Nah, it's a commenting plugin which was developed (or maybe taken over) by WordPress, which can be used on other platforms, like Blogger.
In trying to send my longer post above, I was told that my request to login could not be completed - press back button and, strangely, it had been - then the usual "requested URL too large" - refresh and post appears, then, er, disappears.
Blogger seems to have come over all arsey and shite lately.
Go to intensedebate.com and grab your names, avatars, online sham, lying identities (unless you are the real Major Bracken, of course) just in case.
I've always believed that governments - very methodically - shape the support for the elements that ensure the integrity of the state via speeches, icongraphy etcc.
For example, in the US, the military is lauded and almost fetishized by government. It needs to be, as the US is often engaged in military conflict and it needs an unending stream of working class volunteers to people it. Thus, being a soldier is given a social standing and nobility that is difficult to be found elsewhere. In the UK, not so much. In Ireland, they're no different to farmers or shop assistants. It's a job.
The other prominent elements of American patriotism are also those that glue together disparate states that often have very little in common. The land of the free - well America is no less or more free than many other countries, but it's a broad notion everyone can get behind. The land of opportunity - the US ranks low on social mobility amongst other industrial nations, but once again it's a theme everyone can cheer for.
I suppose the thing that took me aback the most when visiting the States was the habit people had of hanging the Stars & Stripes out on the front lawn. Do that in Slough and everyone will assume you're a BNP member. But perhaps America needs these broad, conspicuous totems to keep its identity and integrity secure.
Actually, you'd best get on that thread yourselves for a look, here's another zinger from 'Bullitt'(I assume it's not Steve McQueen's spirit):
In all of this remember one thing. Time on this planet is restricted to a few short years, then there is eternity........ every injustice will be corrected, every wrong doing punished and the sentence for unrepented sins will last forever. (not just homosexuals of course, all wrong doers like you and me)
Mf et al. Take a gander at Guido Fawkes blog (though he is a bit of a wanker) for an interesting snippet on La Penny. Sexist Laurie Penny Exploits Unemployed Pays Staff Below Minimum Wage
It’s a tough life being the New Statesman’s “voice of a generation”, but luckily Laurie Penny – our favourite privately educated revolutionary who learnt about the hard knocks of life at Wadham College, Oxford – has found the solution to all her problems. Hire some help. She is advertising for an intern to help her with a book, which due to media demands she doesn’t have time to commit to herself. If only she spent more time typing instead of rioting…
The job is to “find statistics and quotes and case studies, talk over what I’m writing and hunt down sources and stories for me, and keep meticulous notes of all sources in academic format.” For this the lowly researcher will be paid the grand sum of £500 for 85 hours work. As a fearless left-wing campaigner for higher living standards for the workers surely Laurie must know that £5.88 per hour is short of the minimum wage and far from the “living wage” she publicly supports (£7.85). Apparently the job would “suit someone who is currently out of work, working part-time, or parenting”. What planet is she on that she thinks parents can afford childcare on £5.88 per hour?
Even more controversial than the flouting of minimum wage legislation is her contempt for sexual equality legislation. She clearly states: “I’m probably looking for a female researcher”. The EHRC clearly says: “Stating a preference for a man or woman in a job advertisement is unlawful sex discrimination unless the requirements of the particular job mean that it is lawful to employ only a man or a woman”. Form an orderly queue…
UPDATE : Should point out for the sake of completeness that Penny’s practical understanding of unpaid internships was cushioned by the fact that she was lucky enough to have an inheritance to rely on when she was starting out in the media. Not everyone has that advantage…
Mf et al. Take a gander at Guido Fawkes blog (though he is a bit of a wanker) for an interesting snippet on La Penny. Sexist Laurie Penny Exploits Unemployed Pays Staff Below Minimum Wage
It’s a tough life being the New Statesman’s “voice of a generation”, but luckily Laurie Penny – our favourite privately educated revolutionary who learnt about the hard knocks of life at Wadham College, Oxford – has found the solution to all her problems. Hire some help. She is advertising for an intern to help her with a book, which due to media demands she doesn’t have time to commit to herself. If only she spent more time typing instead of rioting…
The job is to “find statistics and quotes and case studies, talk over what I’m writing and hunt down sources and stories for me, and keep meticulous notes of all sources in academic format.” For this the lowly researcher will be paid the grand sum of £500 for 85 hours work. As a fearless left-wing campaigner for higher living standards for the workers surely Laurie must know that £5.88 per hour is short of the minimum wage and far from the “living wage” she publicly supports (£7.85). Apparently the job would “suit someone who is currently out of work, working part-time, or parenting”. What planet is she on that she thinks parents can afford childcare on £5.88 per hour?
Even more controversial than the flouting of minimum wage legislation is her contempt for sexual equality legislation. She clearly states: “I’m probably looking for a female researcher”. The EHRC clearly says: “Stating a preference for a man or woman in a job advertisement is unlawful sex discrimination unless the requirements of the particular job mean that it is lawful to employ only a man or a woman”. Form an orderly queue…
UPDATE : Should point out for the sake of completeness that Penny’s practical understanding of unpaid internships was cushioned by the fact that she was lucky enough to have an inheritance to rely on when she was starting out in the media. Not everyone has that advantage…
Best W Boudican - hope your late friend left you with lots of fond memories.
A morning spent in the sunshine sewing my door back into working order was strangely therapeutic......one of those jobs that you get more proficient at as you progress. Has to be said though that I am a long way from being able to sew me own sail...
Away for a stretch of the legs in glorious sunshine.
PaulBJ's suggestion to use the People's Panel format for homelessness stories is a very good one, and I hope Jessica takes it up.
Well, what can I say, great minds think alike. I was thinking about it while biking to work this morning, and thought this would be a good panel... The other thing you might not realise (about me raving about a 'news angle') is that because the panel is published in the *paper* version of the Guardian, it *needs* a news angle/peg/hook - otherwise it doesn't make much sense to paper readers. Which is why I'm asking about it when I ask for panel suggestions.
Now -- I hear new numbers about homelessness will, as it were, be released today. So here's our "news" peg. I'll use this, and call for a people's panel on homelessness later today. Look out for the open thread and spread the word.
...................
Does everything in the Guardian's print edition actually have a news hook?
Sounds pretty unlikely.
Anyway, well done Paul.
You have breached the defenses of JezzaBella and she lies [Don't go there - Ed]
Didn't - or don't - The Times and Daily Mail pre-mod all comments before publishing them?
It's probably the best way for CiF to go, really.
Obviously, Flushbringer never strays too far from the lavatory in case a lawyer wags a finger at him and the others only like comments which provoke a little giggle and shriek and a lovely "Mwah!" so why bother pretending?
I have never once managed to get a comment published on the Times website, no matter what the subject-matter nor how reasoned my comment. It is not so much "pre-mod" as "we choose the ones we fucking want to, love, and we don't like you disagreeing with people".
Marvellous.
So they have let you out of jail with an electronic tag then, Jay. That's bloody harsh.
Meanwhile I have just been trying to explain to a solicitor why it is that someone who is due to be removed from the country tomorrow having lost his appeal because his former solicitors encouraged him to furnish a bunch of fake documents to the UKBA is not likely to succeed in getting an injunction to prevent his removal...
"Well, what can I say, great minds think alike. I was thinking about it while biking to work this morning, and thought this would be a good panel..."
Hm. Jessica Reed. This is the same woman who just yesterday said the guardian had already 'done' homelessness (it's so yesterday, darling) and that the covers of CIF were much more cutting edge?
She either thinks we don't read what she says (not an entirely unreasonable presumption) or she imagines we all suffer from some kind of cif related amnesia....
The Graun's reticence to wade into either Atos or A4e gets more conspicuous by the day. I can think of a number of reasons for this, none of which reflect too well upon Graun Towers.
Perhaps the unemployed are simply not in the Guardian demographic. This would be strange however, when you consider that every cutback and policy of the coalition is weighed up in terms of how they would fall disproportionately harder on the poor.
Perhaps there is a reluctance because Atos and A4e were introduced into UK public life by Labour. That might go some way towards explaining it, though Miliband has tried to paint himself as the antidote to New Labour, so he could win a few converts immediately by promising to boot out both Atos and A4e. But he doesn't.
The most reasonable explanation is also the most depressing. Could it be that the Islingtonites agree over the canapes that there are indeed a huge amount of shirkers and malingerers on the IB/dole registers? That the reason that neither the Ciffers or Labour HQ bellow in anger about these leeches on public life is that they tacitly agree with both the Coalition and New Labour? Ask Miliband. His only pronouncement of note on social welfare was to say "We didn't go far enough." So there's your answer.
And that's the way it generally works on CiF. It's about treading the line between fashionable causes, progressive noises and monster truck in-jokes. If you ask a few of the harder questions (Will there ever be enough work for unskilled people with basic education in a post-industrial Britain? Do all the political parties subscribe to the notion of underclass malingerers), those with charged with commissioning articles will skim over your suggestions.
Speaking of unspeakable poverty and deprivation, I wonder did Laurie have her inheritance to dip into when she was writing her Down & Out In Primrose Hill stuff? Just wondering.
Yes, but not quite as empty-headed as when people were asking for The Guardian to start a campaign to look into the way the government is simply handing over tax money to private firms like A4E in order that those firms could pretend to find jobs for people made workless by the recession created by the banks.
Ms Reed declared that CiF did "not do" campaigning.
A day or so later, she could be seen declaring the unalloyed success of Henry Porter's Liberty Central, er, campaign.
Jay, pre-mod is here to stay as a feature of CiF life, I fear. It's the most useful tool in shaping debate into the morass of pleasantries they're seeking. Say things too pointedly and successfully too often - particularly if they go against the party line - and pre-mod awaits. It means that you can never say anything too contentious or you're never get out of pre-mod. It also means that anything too withering never sees the light of day in the first place.
It's also a useful stick to wave at people. Part of the enjoyment of CiF was to be able to respond in real-time to comments and articles. Nobody wants to be in a situation where an 'immediate' response lies at the bottom of the gap-yah mod's to-do pile for 24 hours. Just having it there makes the debate more tepid.
I believe that both the Indy and Torygraph use Disqus, which allows both real-time posting, no pre-mod and the ability to edit/correct your post for a while afterwards.
So after ignoring my suggestion for a Peoples Panel on Homelessness-after responding to everyone elses suggestions-Ms Reed is now announcing that a Peoples Panel on Homelessness will go ahead.I suppose it's a result of sorts but why does she make things so fuckin' difficult?
I was so angry after i'd read that piece in yesterday's London Standard about homeless people sleeping in rubbish bins that Ms Reed's ignoring me whilst responding to every one elses suggestions was red rag to a bull.WTF is her problem? I can live with the fact she clearly doesn't like me but where is her professionalism? The fact is that if one of her favourites on waddya had made the same suggestion as me at 1.57pm yesterday she would have at least responded and pretty damn quickly.
I don't expect any special treatment on waddya but i do expect to be treated fairly.And is it really too much to expect MsReed to respond to me on the basis of the suggestions i'm making as opposed to whatever personal beef she has with me?
Paul, I doubt if she has a personal beef with you; it's just that there tends to be a unofficial clique of people who they'll respond to. I spent the best part of two years asking for a series of different articles. Working class unemployment in the recession. NEETs. Long term unemployment in a post industrial society. None of them had the all-important 'hook' they were looking for - more to point, at the time I was asking for them, they were happening on Labour's watch. As soon as the coalition got in, there was the 'cuts get personal' series and that article about how cancer survivor rates dropped like a stone once John Sergeant left Strictly Come Dancing.
Are they really that trite? Nothing is worth covering without a fluffy news or media-topic hook? Poverty and suffering never happens when your dinner party companions are the ministers? Well, yeah.
The other thing that disturbs me is that if you attack an ATL article/contributor from a left-wing perspective, you're likely to go MIA. On the other hand, the infestation of "Wots Miliband gunna do abaht those Muslum kiddy-diddlers?" posts were let stand in serried ranks.
It's all about page-clicks and sweet fuck-all else.
Loved that Guido story about La Penny the revolutionary...I laughed so much (was at work) that a couple of my colleagues actually woke up! I do hope he's got his facts right. I wonder how she'll wriggle her way out of that one.
Paul
Save your fury for someone more worthy. And expecting fairness on cif? come on Paul - you know better than that. But well done for plugging away as you do....
You're both right and deep down i'm more than well aware that life ain't fair and why should cif be any different.Normally i wouldn't get too worked up by MsReed either ignoring me or being offhand in a way she'd never be with the 'favoured clique'.But yesterday her pointedly ignoring the plight of homeless people living in fuckin' dustbins whilst getting all enthusiastic about fuckin' book covers and the various other suggestions being made hit a nerve with me.
Fine walk, grand sunset and delightful moonrise at the opposite side of the sky......and me washing dry when I got back to boot.
Interesting posts Rapid
"Today the claimant libel lawyers' train has hit the buffers – this is a very good day for justice in this country. Our legal costs are 140 times more expensive than in many countries in Europe...
The Daily Mirror was faced with a total bill for £850,000 for the two appeals, of which £365,000 represented success fees – although the newspaper reached a settlement on costs for a total of £500,000.
(from the Naomi Campbell article in the Guard)
140 times!!...... two appeals £850K ??
we are all equal before the law........rich folks law indeed.
For me to be Jewish is, above all, to be preoccupied with overcoming injustice and thirsting for justice in the world, and that means being respectful toward other peoples regardless of their nationality or religion, and empathetic in the face of human suffering whoever and wherever victimization is encountered.
Paul - my fine young friend, thanks for the warm welcome back yesterday.
"Save your fury for someone more worthy. And expecting fairness on cif? come on Paul - you know better than that. But well done for plugging away as you do....
I have to agree with Sheff - but I admire your stamina and tolerance. I personally fine Waddya patronising and all too often insulting......which is why I very very rarely post there.
The idea that some half bake Oxobridge intern has a moderation power over me or that I have to jump through hoops to be heard/considered is something I just find intolerable....but hey ho each to their own.
"great minds think alike" WTF what a load of complete and utter bollocks, as meerkatjie pointed out the whole "angle" was binned dutifully into the "no news" pit.
The fact is that the remit of a newspaper is to report things that aren't actually known by the majority of people and thus inform them hasn't actually permeated into cavity that should contain ms reed's brain......
her quip about an article on disabilities also pisses me off......there are many forms of disability and many people that have disabilities (i.e the majority that benefit from, the earmarked for total obliteration, Independent Living Fund) actually have no or little voice as a result of their disability and therefore rely on specific rather than generic "disability" article...but then someone with a profound learning disability coupled with severe physical disability obviously isn't a "juicy" news story to read over your free trade made in uzbekistan by poor peasants organic museli and made 24 hours ago in situ yogurt from a himalayan goat......
but hey folks we got an article on book covers.....
heh..heh.. just been having a squint at Guidos blog - according to one comment La Penny was on Newsnight yesterday discussing the Tunisian revolution. My, my what a reach she has.
great quote from guido about penz........hypocritical cow
..........sheff there are times I am really happy not to have the Beeb live.....sounds like yesterday's newsnight would have been one of them..........
I just read that Richard Falk piece - did you look at the comments, and his reaction to them?
@gandolfo
I saw the Newsnight section with Penny, although I may have missed her initial remarks due to excessive shouting at the screen. It's pernicious; she's now an Internet activism expert after one day sitting in at Hundal's nonsense conference.
It may seem like i'm banging my head against a brick wall on waddya .But the way i see it is if plugging away at issues like ATOS helps raise awareness and ultimately plays the tiniest of tiny parts in getting the WCA''s stopped then it's worth the effort.I suppose it's the same when you advise people who've received the dreaded ESA50 from the DWP which invariably leads to a summons for a medical at ATOS.It may not seem much in the overall scheme of things but it's certainly better than doing nowt.And i'm sure it's much appreciated by the people you're helping.
btw Good to see you back.Somehow this place ain't the same without you :-)
the loss of friends is painful. Thinking of you and your wife. Your friend's husband will be in need of your support; your friendship will be a comfort.
Evening folks. Just uploaded some pics of the Age Concern Demo today. It was pretty good, for a cold day on very short notice, a couple of hundred people and lots of them were the clients of the day centres that are getting the chop.
The lady in the middle of this pic (in grey) is Lily Chitty, who is 99. She insisted in having a go on the megaphone which did not very well instead of a PA, and I had a chat with her and h er friend Edna (in navy) after they had said their bits.
I reckon that'll be you,me and gandolfo marked down in certain quarters as the 'terrible trio'.The lines between Athens and Brussels are buzzing as we speak :-)
Well...I applied...sent this into her blogsite (premoderated-big surprise)...and I'm just waiting for the call)
Dear Laurie
OK..I'll be quite open about it..I'm a man..but I'm a long time admirer of yours, I'm desperate to break into the media as a radical new voice and I'm willing to work as long and hard as I need to get my foot on the first rung of the ladder. I'm absolutely horrified by the actions of this government and the possible repercussions on all sections of society and I like to think I have a long-standing history of rooting out and exposing hypocrisy and blatant self-interest.
I'll admit, at this stage, that a part of this post's attraction is a chance to share some of the kudos which will no doubt accrue through association with a proven and respected progressive campaigner like yourself. I'm a committed socialist although my background is fairly privileged. Currently I'm living in a shared house in North London on a modest allowance from my parents and some of the money Granny left me in her will. I hope my lack of working-class credentials won't disbar me from consideration...I know you're a friend of the workers and my imagination recoils at the sort of privations you probably suffered as a child. Frankly, I'm in awe at the fortitude you displayed in dragging yourself from the gutter and the bare-knuckle grit you showed in battling society's latent misogyny and disdain for proletarian intellectuals such as yourself. I'd consider it honour to work alongside you in the forthcoming struggle.
Anyway to sum up, I consider my major strengths to consist in:
A proven academic track-record in presenting any old single-issue relativist guff as 'sparkling' polemic.
The fact that you can keep the £500. I'll struggle by on my present stipend. Perhaps you can donate the money to a worthwhile cause.
My abject desperation to break into the media bubble and look cool and informed by spouting radical platitudes and trying to sound angry. (unfortunately I've got a whining childish voice and come off as a big petulant kid.)
ohhhh comments come and go so i'm all out of sync wots goin on???????????
leni
antiathos it is......did the musketeers have chariots? well who cares have one!!
thauma
yeah in fact....... wot about the wimin? and doggies could all be the reincarnations of dogtagnan.......!!!
i think i'll go for the female version of porthos........gullible........
see msreed hasn't even bothered to address her post to me.....rather than answer the questions posted her dinner menu........says it all really...think i'll tell her not to bother her response so far speaks for itself......contempt and ignorance........
"what I'm writing about touches directly on motherhood, and I am child-free."
good start penz.... in fact why start talking now about something that you have experience of, especially at such a crucial point in your "career".....
Markopoulou and Smolin have argued that the low energy limit of LQG may suffer from a conflict between locality, as defined by the connectivity of spin networks, and an averaged notion of locality that emerges at low energy from a superposition of spin network states. I am testing a non-local quantum entangled internet dinner delivery system that exploits this conflict. You should by now have received a modest portion of penne with garlic and parmesan with a sauce of unknown quantum state. Please let me know the result of the experiment.
MF hope you get the job .........!! i reckon with that application you could get it.....shame about the gonads....they might have to go if you get short listed......... :o)
Medve - unfortunately there seems to be a slight bug in the software in that no food has been delivered. However, a lump of coal has inexplicably arrived in my in-box.
Have raised a Code 1 Incident Report and, when it gets approved six years from now, expect your prompt response in debugging the issue.
Hey monkeyfish, I applied as well and I got this reply:
Sorry Mr. Scherfig (I hope that's not a 'Muslim' name, ha ha), but I've just given the job to my bestest bestest chum and hero of my generation, fellow unemployed, homeless Oxbridge graduate Tamsin Omond. She's had a run of bad luck lately what with being kicked out of Plane Stupid for bring too stupid and then only getting 0.2% of constituency votes in the general election. And then the radical new political party (which she herself founded!) kicked her out as well. So I felt obliged to give her a bit of a leg-up in the old journo business now that I'm even more famous and powerful and radical than Seumas Milne. Plus her grandpapa (the fabulously rich baronet) says that he'll actually pay me if I take her on for a bit and keep her off the streets and out of airports.
Anyway, due to the sheer barrage of applications what I have received I have decided to employ a select group of 50 or 60 wannabees to make my toast, do my ironing, roll my cigarettes and so on. If you wish to be considered for one of these status-enhancing positions, please post 5 crisp new £20 notes to PO Box 25463, and Tamsin will probably get back to you at some stage.
What do you think? It's worth a shot to get into the meejah, isn't it?
This post meets the criterion for a Genuine Occupational Requirement: And I'm the right gender ... or should that be sex? ... what about transgender? ... yeah, that works.
*elbows out the gonad-driven competition*
And I once went to a conference at Oxford Uni .. or was it Cambridge?
Seem to remember being stuck on the train home from that bloody conference for 5 hours, not allowed to smoke of course so had to annoy the jobsworth in the buffet car by drinking a G&T or several. Ended up a bit pished & a bit gobby ...
i reckon making a good cup of tea and doing penz shopping at waitrose should give us the edge and of course being the mod for her blog....time consuming but we could do it out of hours........unpaid of course
Mschin but do you greenham common on ya CV? rad femz stuff that's a plus...that and motherhood....do you think a dog counts?
mschin sheff'll lend them, (assuming she hasn't applied for the job!)so, so far we've got 2 greenham commons, an orgreave, poll tax riots, numerous NUPE strikes, motherhood, doghood,
what else......?any intenational feministy solidarity under ya belt?
"what I'm writing about touches directly on motherhood, and I am child-free."
...a very telling phrase.."child-free"..why not childless?..or "but I don't actually have any children? The "-free" suffix generally follows something with negative associations...cancer-free, debt-free, pain-free
You never see..."money-free"..tends to be "pennyless"...or "joy-free"...generally joyless
obviously, there's "drug-free" but that's hardly anything to celebrate
Seems Ms P regards children as something of a curse...so clearly just the person to opine on motherhood...although, to be fair...when you're a radical young bullshitting upper middle-class pseudo-prole voice of a generation...and the 'hero' generation at that, if memory serves...a child's clearly gonna take up too much of your valuable time...especially if you're too busy to research your own fuckin book...what with all the media posing to fit in...although, as it happens she rarely leaves the house..
from her blog..."I'm based in London, UK, but you don't have to be, I rarely leave my house anyway except for bothering the police and bits of grocery shopping."
I'm starting to become aware that her bullshitting and fakery is becoming a bit of an obsession on here but WTF?..she's symptomatic of everything that's wrong with British media..full of fuckin idiots striking poses and being acclaimed as 'experts' by other idiots...all of which is very useful to certain parties...she's even worse than Toynbee...at least Pol went out contract cleaning on minimum wage for a month or two so she could convey the despair of a lifetime of casually employed drudgery...before a well-earned month's recuperation in you know where..."just a simple calf's liver with mushroom risotto tonight thanks Maria...and a bottle of that lovely Chianti..."
Thankfully you don't have to make it up...cos let's face it, you just couldn't...who'd fuckin believe it?
MF "I'm starting to become aware her bullshitting and fakery is becoming a bit of an obsession on here"
Funny you should say that. I was going to defend her the other day but since the poor girl who just got into Oxford stuff seems to be unravelling I am glad I couldn't be arsed.
academic quals........well just about string 2 words together these days so yep..well that's more than pen....
anti war......check.......
G8.........check international solidarity in the field against forced sterilisation of women in salvador ....check........hang on uncheck...she'd most probably see that as worth while child free being a liberation an all........
Hang on hang on gals..... living in a house of lesbians in north london anyone???? no not you spencer still gotta sort out the willy.....
Yep, approved school. Prison, young offenders or borstal would be better .. my mate did 18 months for GBH years ago, we'll borrow that as well, she won't mind.
I love this Datablog stuff - guess which nations own the most US treasury bonds?
any intenational feministy solidarity under ya belt?
I chatted with a couple of wimminz at the M&S food checkout.
Will that do?
..she's symptomatic of everything that's wrong with British media..full of fuckin idiots striking poses and being acclaimed as 'experts' by other idiots...all of which is very useful to certain parties...
The point with the media sphere which Penny Dreadful occupies is that it is self-referential, self-reverential, self-regarding and basically self-replicating.
If a news story requires someone to know something about a particular make of car, for example, it would never cross their empty little minds to phone, say, a garage.
It will suddenly become, though, an entry for someone who once thought about buying that particular car. They are the expert for the day and then forever afterwards. In fact, they are basically the new transport correspondent, with an option to stand in on military aircraft as the need arises.
All because they once picked up a brochure for a Toyota SpaceInvader.
we're on a roll.......joint application- job share?
we'll be in and out by lunchtime.....sabotage could be done in minutes ....only a brief trip to north london straight on the thames link and out like a shot........ bet polz toynz will give us a reference to get the opostion out of the way.....
"We'll put a bid on Iowa tomorrow..." you play the markets as well mschin right put that down as liberation of women from oppressive regimes
1. attended an actual lecture at Cambridge (on Le Rouge et le Noir) once (I was visiting a friend who was at Newnham College).
2. single mum
3. Gulf War I protests
4. Voted for Gus Hall & Angela Davis (US Communist Party) in the 1984 election.
5. Nearly participated in 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, but decided that it might be risky for a 3 month old baby. Know people who did participate who would be happy to lend the experience.
Here's a taster from KEM's latest album which is called INTIMACY 111.As i said there's nothing else from it on YouTube at present but it's worth keeping an eye out for.
Oh frig, I feel like a right plank tonight but also tremendously relieved.
I won't bore you with the details 'coz you probably don't know or weren't interested anyway but I'm sure Deano and quite possibly the Duke would like to know.
Anyway feel free to scroll on by if this doesn't float your boat but here's a brief precis:
A few years ago Deano mentioned that he might have seen my Dad play football at Elland Road with the great John Charles.
It turned out that he was right and I promised to dig out my Dad's old scrapbooks to bring along to a UT meet in Sheffield.
So I set about tracking them down but no one seemed to know where they were.
Myself and my four sisters knew that my Mum had loaned all my Dad's memorabilia to the Bramall Lane Hall of Fame but although they kept some of his medals and silverware, they were adamant that the scrapbooks had been returned to my Mum.
(They were quite right, btw and they were exemplary in the way they handled this somewhat sensitive situation. So full marks to them)
Anyway, my Mum was increasingly succumbing to a state of dementia so asking her where the scrapbooks might be was a bit of a waste of time.
To cut a long story short, myself and my sisters have spent the last four years dreading the possibility that these priceless documents got chucked in a skip by accident somewhere along the line.
And since all of us were convinced we didn't have them, none us even bothered to check.
Yep: had to clear out loft and guess what, there they were!
I have no idea how they ended up there but they are all accounted for and non the worse for their exile in my attic.
I've just been leafing through them and they really are a fascinating and comprehensive account of what it was like to be a professional footballer back in the day!
The chronicle is awesome of a career from 1944-1958
@Leni: I can't tell you how thrilled me and my sisters are to have re-discovered this archive and apart from informing them I had to phone the bloke at Bramall Lane to say that it wasn't his fault either! I don't know how to put it "online" but I'm sure it's possible!
And as well as being of sentimental value they could be worth a couple of bob too.Don't know a lot about these things but i assume such a collection would/could be covered by a standard house contents insurance scheme.Might be worth checking.
Chekov - was just checking in and read your memorabillia post. I know nothing about football (like Leni) but would be genuinely interested to see photos etc that you have found.
No need to be sorry Habib cos i enjoyed that.I'm trying to broaden my taste in music.Although when i activated the link my first thought was 'what the fuck is AllyF doin' on it!'
Hello Princess and anyone who else who is interested, my Dad's scrapbooks are open to anyone and anyone interested in the history of professional football would wet their knickers to have a look at this stuff!
I don't know about the history of the game but I'm sure that when your dad was playing most guys played for their home town, were involved with and lived among the supporters.
You could look at it as a social document about the WC and perhaps compare it to the celeb life of footballers toaday who move from club to club - along with the changes in the structure of the clubs and the money involved.
I don't know about the history of the game but I'm sure that when your dad was playing most guys played for their home town, were involved with and lived among the supporters.
You could look at it as a social document about the WC and perhaps compare it to the celeb life of footballers toaday who move from club to club - along with the changes in the structure of the clubs and the money involved.
Reposting for Chekhov from last night:
ReplyDeletechekhov said...
Hello everyone: has anyone come across this website?:
http://www.infowars.com/
I'm not a big fan of Conspiracy "theories" but the best exposees of the shenanigans going on in the USA usually come from those who actually live there.
BTW: if the bankerss are trousering their bonuses yet again, that must mean they have managed to get their train wreck back on the rails.
Ergo, since we taxpayers have a share in some of them, we can expect a return on our investment, no?
And if this is really the case then the savage cuts are not necessary after all.
That's my logic anyway but what would I know?
I'm sure there are people on this site who can explain to me why I'm so thick!
18 January, 2011 01:18
Atomboy, yesterday:
ReplyDeleteSheff - I read the article you mention earlier and found the oddest thing was that Americans rate the armaments industry as their most trusted "brand."
Bizarre beyond belief.
Yeah, reading your comment I thought it was bizarre beyond belief, too. Frankly, most Americans probably don't give a second thought to the armaments industr, so the notion that we would consider it our most trusted "brand" (I assume you meant what we would consider the American industry/business most respected outside the US??) was just ludicrous. So I read the article. I assume you were referring to this paragraph:
The difference of course is that the MIC basks in the reflected glory of the military, shown by poll after poll to be the most trusted institution in the land. In terms of trust and admiration, the health insurance and drug companies rank right down there with Wall Street and the banks.
Atomboy -- this is saying that it is the military that is "shown by poll after poll to be the most trusted institution in the land" -- not the armaments industry. There is actually quite a lot of difference.
It is mostly only Congress that is in love with America's defence contractors. I'd wager that, if you polled most Americans about what they thing about companies like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins, etc. it would be far more negative than positive. I think most Americans see defence contractors as grossly overcharging the government.
Hi All
ReplyDeleteNot posting much due to an unexpected shitty turn. Lost a good friend and neighbour the other day, Mrs B's buddy, and my pal too at the age of 56. Good hearted woman with a big smile and an optimistic outlook. RIP Kara.
medve--Good to see you back on form here. We've missed you .
deano--Glad you're back too, almost like old home week here. Feels good. Let's hope Mungo leads you to the right one.
Paul--I think your persistence with the issues on Cif are admirable and worth chasing. Good on you mate.
Listening to LA Woman. Laters.
Montana--Both saturdays are good for me with the anniversaire UT. Bring it on mon cherie.
ReplyDeleteBoudican, condolences.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nhscampaign.org/current-issues-2/e-petition.html
ReplyDeleteBoudican and Medve from a day or two ago - condolences on your sad losses.
ReplyDeleteMontana
Thanks for picking me up on this, quite rightly.
I will be completely honest, although I know it will sound like an excuse.
I skimmed some of the article and was astonished at what I thought I had read and intended to go back and look properly, which I didn't. When Sheff referred to it, I made my post, thinking that if I had got the wrong end of the stick, someone would point it out, which you have done.
Certainly lazy and clumsy on my part and probably goes to show how easily misinformation can be spread both unintentionally and deliberately.
However, the military and the armaments industry do have a type of symbiotic relationship to say the least and it is interesting that the military brand is also a throwaway commodity - just like in Britain - where the fine young heroic soldiers who are sent to war with fanfares and flags and cheers and waves are immediately jettisoned and discarded once they have been used.
Clive Stafford Smith said in his book Bad Men: Guantanamo Bay and the Secret Prisons that there is a tacit expectation within the American military that they will take on anyone and fight, as long as everyone abides by the rule that none of their soldiers can be harmed.
The fear most other combatants have when fighting alongside the American military would seem to be that they will be the victims of American "friendly fire" rather than the efforts of the enemy, so I don't think it is a brand which has much international acclaim.
As for the armaments industry overcharging the government, this is also true here. However, it might be better looked at as the armaments and military enterprises sucking up vast seas of money from the people which could have been used for the benefit of the people, which ends up being used to fund the lavish lifestyles of the said armaments bosses and the killing of Johnny Foreigners who are stupid enough to be living above American oil in lands far, far away.
I am absolutely sure you are right in saying that most Americans do not give a thought for the arms industry and if they did, would not think especially well of it.
However, I think most Americans are probably proud of the power and might of their country, the fact that it is the current ne plus ultra in global wealth and the ability to crush any and all foes with its stated policy of using massive force from the outset of any conflict.
The two seem to go somewhat clingingly, inseperably hand in hand.
Anyway, I know you are no great cheerleader for the American "World Police" role, so as I said, you were quite right to point out my unintentional distortion of the article.
Paul
Thanks for the kind words yesterday.
I don't think Natalie Handbag would want to welcome us back with soft squeezy cuddles and little wet kisses, even if asked.
I think the cullings and occasional assassinations behind the shed are just what she wants. Has she ever responded to the overwhelming dissatisfaction with moderation or simply given the moderators more and better tools to ensure they can zap anyone before they can even get a word out?
It doesn't take long for the desire to go back to evaporate anyway, which is why she has to sit at the edge of the filthy puddle which is CiF and croon and wail like a Siren to entice the unwary or desperate into blurting out anything which tops up the word count for the week.
It's the old "Be careful who you upset on the way up..." thing.
Could the spam-bin brigade resurrect me when they come on duty, please?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Atom - done
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jay.
ReplyDeleteCould you put me down as a yes for Intense Debate, please, Montana?
Jay
ReplyDeleteIt is exactly that, strangely enough!
Nah, it's a commenting plugin which was developed (or maybe taken over) by WordPress, which can be used on other platforms, like Blogger.
In trying to send my longer post above, I was told that my request to login could not be completed - press back button and, strangely, it had been - then the usual "requested URL too large" - refresh and post appears, then, er, disappears.
Blogger seems to have come over all arsey and shite lately.
Go to intensedebate.com and grab your names, avatars, online sham, lying identities (unless you are the real Major Bracken, of course) just in case.
Done, tho some scumbag already had my name, so had to use a capital i for one of my Ls. Outrageous.
ReplyDeleteI've always believed that governments - very methodically - shape the support for the elements that ensure the integrity of the state via speeches, icongraphy etcc.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in the US, the military is lauded and almost fetishized by government. It needs to be, as the US is often engaged in military conflict and it needs an unending stream of working class volunteers to people it. Thus, being a soldier is given a social standing and nobility that is difficult to be found elsewhere. In the UK, not so much. In Ireland, they're no different to farmers or shop assistants. It's a job.
The other prominent elements of American patriotism are also those that glue together disparate states that often have very little in common. The land of the free - well America is no less or more free than many other countries, but it's a broad notion everyone can get behind. The land of opportunity - the US ranks low on social mobility amongst other industrial nations, but once again it's a theme everyone can cheer for.
I suppose the thing that took me aback the most when visiting the States was the habit people had of hanging the Stars & Stripes out on the front lawn. Do that in Slough and everyone will assume you're a BNP member. But perhaps America needs these broad, conspicuous totems to keep its identity and integrity secure.
Post of the week right here from the Ben Summerskill Christian Hoteliers thread.
ReplyDeleteBy 'senttoexile'
All these human rights types, greenies, and of course multiculturalists are merely marxists in disguise.
Remember how many millions of Christian peasants were killed by the bolsheviks in Russia.
As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
That looks like it was produced by a TorieBoy shit-bot v1.2
ReplyDeleteActually, you'd best get on that thread yourselves for a look, here's another zinger from 'Bullitt'(I assume it's not Steve McQueen's spirit):
ReplyDeleteIn all of this remember one thing. Time on this planet is restricted to a few short years, then there is eternity........ every injustice will be corrected, every wrong doing punished and the sentence for unrepented sins will last forever. (not just homosexuals of course, all wrong doers like you and me)
Wybourne
ReplyDeleteYes, interesting post.
I think it could be paraphrased into something which covers an even wider aspect of human endeavour, though.
All these broccoli varieties, leeks, and of course cucumbers are merely prime steak in disguise.
Remember how many millions of peas go into Birds Eye's Cheesy Peasy Surprise and how many children chomp them to bits.
As they say, you cannot make an omelette without cracking eggs.
Wybourne
ReplyDeleteDamn it all to Hell!
I thought we done did a deal with God to let us off as long as them homeosexualists done got it danged good and proper.
Atomboy,
ReplyDeleteLOL. Your pisstake post is actually more coherent than 65.6% of the BTL comments on that thread.
Wybourne again - sorry.
ReplyDeleteThere is quite a market for the nicer varieties of tame homosexualists amongst the political glitterati of, oh, say Brussels, though.
They are evidently brilliant to tag along when choosing something chic for the opera.
Wybourne
ReplyDeleteI would like to think you are simply humouring me but imagine what you say is probably true.
As long as you bung a sequence of words down to fill up the scary white space on the page, Natalie and her chums are just cock-a-hoop.
Meaning and thought are entirely optional and probably not really preferred.
Mf et al. Take a gander at Guido Fawkes blog (though he is a bit of a wanker) for an interesting snippet on La Penny.
ReplyDeleteSexist Laurie Penny Exploits Unemployed
Pays Staff Below Minimum Wage
It’s a tough life being the New Statesman’s “voice of a generation”, but luckily Laurie Penny – our favourite privately educated revolutionary who learnt about the hard knocks of life at Wadham College, Oxford – has found the solution to all her problems. Hire some help. She is advertising for an intern to help her with a book, which due to media demands she doesn’t have time to commit to herself. If only she spent more time typing instead of rioting…
The job is to “find statistics and quotes and case studies, talk over what I’m writing and hunt down sources and stories for me, and keep meticulous notes of all sources in academic format.” For this the lowly researcher will be paid the grand sum of £500 for 85 hours work. As a fearless left-wing campaigner for higher living standards for the workers surely Laurie must know that £5.88 per hour is short of the minimum wage and far from the “living wage” she publicly supports (£7.85). Apparently the job would “suit someone who is currently out of work, working part-time, or parenting”. What planet is she on that she thinks parents can afford childcare on £5.88 per hour?
Even more controversial than the flouting of minimum wage legislation is her contempt for sexual equality legislation. She clearly states: “I’m probably looking for a female researcher”. The EHRC clearly says: “Stating a preference for a man or woman in a job advertisement is unlawful sex discrimination unless the requirements of the particular job mean that it is lawful to employ only a man or a woman”. Form an orderly queue…
UPDATE : Should point out for the sake of completeness that Penny’s practical understanding of unpaid internships was cushioned by the fact that she was lucky enough to have an inheritance to rely on when she was starting out in the media. Not everyone has that advantage…
OK - sorry for spoiling things again.
ReplyDeleteI'm off.
Well, off-ish.
You know, peeking every now and then.
Not as in Peking duck, though.
That's a whole new ball-game.
Alisdair,
ReplyDeletethanks for that.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCan someone unspam Alisdair's post?
ReplyDeleteIt's a cracker about Laurie Penny.
Mf et al. Take a gander at Guido Fawkes blog (though he is a bit of a wanker) for an interesting snippet on La Penny.
ReplyDeleteSexist Laurie Penny Exploits Unemployed
Pays Staff Below Minimum Wage
It’s a tough life being the New Statesman’s “voice of a generation”, but luckily Laurie Penny – our favourite privately educated revolutionary who learnt about the hard knocks of life at Wadham College, Oxford – has found the solution to all her problems. Hire some help. She is advertising for an intern to help her with a book, which due to media demands she doesn’t have time to commit to herself. If only she spent more time typing instead of rioting…
The job is to “find statistics and quotes and case studies, talk over what I’m writing and hunt down sources and stories for me, and keep meticulous notes of all sources in academic format.” For this the lowly researcher will be paid the grand sum of £500 for 85 hours work. As a fearless left-wing campaigner for higher living standards for the workers surely Laurie must know that £5.88 per hour is short of the minimum wage and far from the “living wage” she publicly supports (£7.85). Apparently the job would “suit someone who is currently out of work, working part-time, or parenting”. What planet is she on that she thinks parents can afford childcare on £5.88 per hour?
Even more controversial than the flouting of minimum wage legislation is her contempt for sexual equality legislation. She clearly states: “I’m probably looking for a female researcher”. The EHRC clearly says: “Stating a preference for a man or woman in a job advertisement is unlawful sex discrimination unless the requirements of the particular job mean that it is lawful to employ only a man or a woman”. Form an orderly queue…
UPDATE : Should point out for the sake of completeness that Penny’s practical understanding of unpaid internships was cushioned by the fact that she was lucky enough to have an inheritance to rely on when she was starting out in the media. Not everyone has that advantage…
Hello visitor from Macau!
ReplyDeleteBest W Boudican - hope your late friend left you with lots of fond memories.
A morning spent in the sunshine sewing my door back into working order was strangely therapeutic......one of those jobs that you get more proficient at as you progress. Has to be said though that I am a long way from being able to sew me own sail...
Away for a stretch of the legs in glorious sunshine.
Afternoon wonderful Untrusties
ReplyDeleteCondolences to Boudican. x
Haven't been on the gay thread yet. I think there is some ass-whupping to be done by the sound of things. Bigotted pillocks.
Back in a bit
Looks like a day of contrition for me.
ReplyDeletePaul
Message from Dribbly:
JessicaReed
18 January 2011 11:39AM
PaulBJ's suggestion to use the People's Panel format for homelessness stories is a very good one, and I hope Jessica takes it up.
Well, what can I say, great minds think alike. I was thinking about it while biking to work this morning, and thought this would be a good panel... The other thing you might not realise (about me raving about a 'news angle') is that because the panel is published in the *paper* version of the Guardian, it *needs* a news angle/peg/hook - otherwise it doesn't make much sense to paper readers. Which is why I'm asking about it when I ask for panel suggestions.
Now -- I hear new numbers about homelessness will, as it were, be released today. So here's our "news" peg. I'll use this, and call for a people's panel on homelessness later today. Look out for the open thread and spread the word.
...................
Does everything in the Guardian's print edition actually have a news hook?
Sounds pretty unlikely.
Anyway, well done Paul.
You have breached the defenses of JezzaBella and she lies [Don't go there - Ed]
And a cry in the wilderness from Exiledlondoner:
ReplyDeleteexiledlondoner
18 January 2011 11:43AM
I see you've got Attilla the Moderator working on the David Laws thread?
Using moderation to protect Polly is one thing - using moderation to protect a money-grubbing millionaire fraudster is quite another.
When will CIF realise that people like Laws won't be any less guilty, just because you censor anyone who states the bleeding obvious?
Oh, and JayReilIy has been released from his makeshift cell and is now able to gambol in the fields of baloney.
ReplyDeleteSpam cleared.
ReplyDeleteIn premod, Atom - obviously a months ban wasnt enough, more premod needed otherwise who knows what damage i might do...
ReplyDeleteJay
ReplyDeleteDidn't - or don't - The Times and Daily Mail pre-mod all comments before publishing them?
It's probably the best way for CiF to go, really.
Obviously, Flushbringer never strays too far from the lavatory in case a lawyer wags a finger at him and the others only like comments which provoke a little giggle and shriek and a lovely "Mwah!" so why bother pretending?
I have never once managed to get a comment published on the Times website, no matter what the subject-matter nor how reasoned my comment. It is not so much "pre-mod" as "we choose the ones we fucking want to, love, and we don't like you disagreeing with people".
ReplyDeleteMarvellous.
So they have let you out of jail with an electronic tag then, Jay. That's bloody harsh.
Meanwhile I have just been trying to explain to a solicitor why it is that someone who is due to be removed from the country tomorrow having lost his appeal because his former solicitors encouraged him to furnish a bunch of fake documents to the UKBA is not likely to succeed in getting an injunction to prevent his removal...
I should have just replied "Durrrr!!!"
"Well, what can I say, great minds think alike. I was thinking about it while biking to work this morning, and thought this would be a good panel..."
ReplyDeleteHm. Jessica Reed. This is the same woman who just yesterday said the guardian had already 'done' homelessness (it's so yesterday, darling) and that the covers of CIF were much more cutting edge?
She either thinks we don't read what she says (not an entirely unreasonable presumption) or she imagines we all suffer from some kind of cif related amnesia....
The Graun's reticence to wade into either Atos or A4e gets more conspicuous by the day. I can think of a number of reasons for this, none of which reflect too well upon Graun Towers.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the unemployed are simply not in the Guardian demographic. This would be strange however, when you consider that every cutback and policy of the coalition is weighed up in terms of how they would fall disproportionately harder on the poor.
Perhaps there is a reluctance because Atos and A4e were introduced into UK public life by Labour. That might go some way towards explaining it, though Miliband has tried to paint himself as the antidote to New Labour, so he could win a few converts immediately by promising to boot out both Atos and A4e. But he doesn't.
The most reasonable explanation is also the most depressing. Could it be that the Islingtonites agree over the canapes that there are indeed a huge amount of shirkers and malingerers on the IB/dole registers? That the reason that neither the Ciffers or Labour HQ bellow in anger about these leeches on public life is that they tacitly agree with both the Coalition and New Labour? Ask Miliband. His only pronouncement of note on social welfare was to say "We didn't go far enough." So there's your answer.
And that's the way it generally works on CiF. It's about treading the line between fashionable causes, progressive noises and monster truck in-jokes. If you ask a few of the harder questions (Will there ever be enough work for unskilled people with basic education in a post-industrial Britain? Do all the political parties subscribe to the notion of underclass malingerers), those with charged with commissioning articles will skim over your suggestions.
Speaking of unspeakable poverty and deprivation, I wonder did Laurie have her inheritance to dip into when she was writing her Down & Out In Primrose Hill stuff? Just wondering.
Meerkatjie
ReplyDeleteYes, but not quite as empty-headed as when people were asking for The Guardian to start a campaign to look into the way the government is simply handing over tax money to private firms like A4E in order that those firms could pretend to find jobs for people made workless by the recession created by the banks.
Ms Reed declared that CiF did "not do" campaigning.
A day or so later, she could be seen declaring the unalloyed success of Henry Porter's Liberty Central, er, campaign.
Bright buttons and sharp knives spring to mind.
Sorry, RapidEddie - you beat me to it and said it better.
ReplyDeleteJay, pre-mod is here to stay as a feature of CiF life, I fear. It's the most useful tool in shaping debate into the morass of pleasantries they're seeking. Say things too pointedly and successfully too often - particularly if they go against the party line - and pre-mod awaits. It means that you can never say anything too contentious or you're never get out of pre-mod. It also means that anything too withering never sees the light of day in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a useful stick to wave at people. Part of the enjoyment of CiF was to be able to respond in real-time to comments and articles. Nobody wants to be in a situation where an 'immediate' response lies at the bottom of the gap-yah mod's to-do pile for 24 hours. Just having it there makes the debate more tepid.
I believe that both the Indy and Torygraph use Disqus, which allows both real-time posting, no pre-mod and the ability to edit/correct
your post for a while afterwards.
Afternoon all
ReplyDeleteSo after ignoring my suggestion for a Peoples Panel on Homelessness-after responding to everyone elses suggestions-Ms Reed is now announcing that a Peoples Panel on Homelessness will go ahead.I suppose it's a result of sorts but why does she make things so fuckin' difficult?
I was so angry after i'd read that piece in yesterday's London Standard about homeless people sleeping in rubbish bins that Ms Reed's ignoring me whilst responding to every one elses suggestions was red rag to a bull.WTF is her problem? I can live with the fact she clearly doesn't like me but where is her professionalism? The fact is that if one of her favourites on waddya had made the same suggestion as me at 1.57pm yesterday she would have at least responded and pretty damn quickly.
I don't expect any special treatment on waddya but i do expect to be treated fairly.And is it really too much to expect MsReed to respond to me on the basis of the suggestions i'm making as opposed to whatever personal beef she has with me?
Paul, I doubt if she has a personal beef with you; it's just that there tends to be a unofficial clique of people who they'll respond to. I spent the best part of two years asking for a series of different articles. Working class unemployment in the recession. NEETs. Long term unemployment in a post industrial society. None of them had the all-important 'hook' they were looking for - more to point, at the time I was asking for them, they were happening on Labour's watch. As soon as the coalition got in, there was the 'cuts get personal' series and that article about how cancer survivor rates dropped like a stone once John Sergeant left Strictly Come Dancing.
ReplyDeleteAre they really that trite? Nothing is worth covering without a fluffy news or media-topic hook? Poverty and suffering never happens when your dinner party companions are the ministers? Well, yeah.
The other thing that disturbs me is that if you attack an ATL article/contributor from a left-wing perspective, you're likely to go MIA. On the other hand, the infestation of "Wots Miliband gunna do abaht those Muslum kiddy-diddlers?" posts were let stand in serried ranks.
It's all about page-clicks and sweet fuck-all else.
Anyways enough of the whingeing there's more important things like MUSIC HOUR.
ReplyDeleteThis track may bring on a feeling of nausea to the UT Headbanger/Hippie contingent so my advice to them is 'don't play it'.
:-)
Evening all
ReplyDeleteAlisdair
Loved that Guido story about La Penny the revolutionary...I laughed so much (was at work) that a couple of my colleagues actually woke up! I do hope he's got his facts right. I wonder how she'll wriggle her way out of that one.
Paul
Save your fury for someone more worthy. And expecting fairness on cif? come on Paul - you know better than that. But well done for plugging away as you do....
Hello everyone; @Paul: you want to get treated fairly on "wadya"?...well good luck with that;-)
ReplyDeleteAnway, I'm guessing this template for modern parenting is nearer the mark for most of us on here than Amy Chua's preferred method!
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/deborah-ross-lets-hear-it-for-the-pathetic-mother-2186974.html
Sheff/Eddie
ReplyDeleteYou're both right and deep down i'm more than well aware that life ain't fair and why should cif be any different.Normally i wouldn't get too worked up by MsReed either ignoring me or being offhand in a way she'd never be with the 'favoured clique'.But yesterday her pointedly ignoring the plight of homeless people living in fuckin' dustbins whilst getting all enthusiastic about fuckin' book covers and the various other suggestions being made hit a nerve with me.
Fine walk, grand sunset and delightful moonrise at the opposite side of the sky......and me washing dry when I got back to boot.
ReplyDeleteInteresting posts Rapid
"Today the claimant libel lawyers' train has hit the buffers – this is a very good day for justice in this country. Our legal costs are 140 times more expensive than in many countries in Europe...
The Daily Mirror was faced with a total bill for £850,000 for the two appeals, of which £365,000 represented success fees – although the newspaper reached a settlement on costs for a total of £500,000.
(from the Naomi Campbell article in the Guard)
140 times!!...... two appeals £850K ??
we are all equal before the law........rich folks law indeed.
Seymour Hersh has managed to piss off a few people rather splendidly
ReplyDeleteSeymour Hersh unleashed
"Just when we needed an angry black man," he began, his arm perched jauntily on the podium, "we didn't get one."
Interesting piece by Richard Falk on identity - although some may take issue with his views on global humanism he makes some really excellent points.
For me to be Jewish is, above all, to be preoccupied with overcoming injustice and thirsting for justice in the world, and that means being respectful toward other peoples regardless of their nationality or religion, and empathetic in the face of human suffering whoever and wherever victimization is encountered.
Paul - my fine young friend, thanks for the warm welcome back yesterday.
ReplyDelete"Save your fury for someone more worthy. And expecting fairness on cif? come on Paul - you know better than that. But well done for plugging away as you do....
I have to agree with Sheff - but I admire your stamina and tolerance. I personally fine Waddya patronising and all too often insulting......which is why I very very rarely post there.
The idea that some half bake Oxobridge intern has a moderation power over me or that I have to jump through hoops to be heard/considered is something I just find intolerable....but hey ho each to their own.
evening all
ReplyDelete"great minds think alike" WTF what a load of complete and utter bollocks, as meerkatjie pointed out the whole "angle" was binned dutifully into the "no news" pit.
The fact is that the remit of a newspaper is to report things that aren't actually known by the majority of people and thus inform them hasn't actually permeated into cavity that should contain ms reed's brain......
her quip about an article on disabilities also pisses me off......there are many forms of disability and many people that have disabilities (i.e the majority that benefit from, the earmarked for total obliteration, Independent Living Fund) actually have no or little voice as a result of their disability and therefore rely on specific rather than generic "disability" article...but then someone with a profound learning disability coupled with severe physical disability obviously isn't a "juicy" news story to read over your free trade made in uzbekistan by poor peasants organic museli and made 24 hours ago in situ yogurt from a himalayan goat......
but hey folks we got an article on book covers.....
heh..heh.. just been having a squint at Guidos blog - according to one comment La Penny was on Newsnight yesterday discussing the Tunisian revolution. My, my what a reach she has.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletealisdair
ReplyDeletegreat quote from guido about penz........hypocritical cow
..........sheff there are times I am really happy not to have the Beeb live.....sounds like yesterday's newsnight would have been one of them..........
@Sheff
ReplyDeleteI just read that Richard Falk piece - did you look at the comments, and his reaction to them?
@gandolfo
I saw the Newsnight section with Penny, although I may have missed her initial remarks due to excessive shouting at the screen. It's pernicious; she's now an Internet activism expert after one day sitting in at Hundal's nonsense conference.
Poor Laurie. Being a self-publicising media whore is turning into a nightmare! She tweeted this yesterday:
ReplyDeleteReally really regretting agreeing to be in a picture for the Evening Standard. Horrible photos, feel v disempowered by the whole process.
Luckily her disillusion didn't last. She tweeted this today after being on the beeb (in case anybody missed it):
For thos asking, here's the Iplayer link. From 20 mins in
Watch ME! Watch ME! Watch ME!
Evening all
ReplyDeleteBoudican
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.
Regarding Amy Chua, the "Tiger Mother" New York Times article with an interesting take on it. (Whoops, maybe you need to register on nytimes.com to access it)
peterj
ReplyDeletethink my reaction would be, let's say be more physical......
badpenny
jesus wept......as I would if i saw it...that or breaking me 'puter..........
Boudican
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about your friend as deano said I hope you'll have fond memories......
Hi All
ReplyDeleteWaddya looks a bit like a UT conspiracy. I commented at the same time as Paul and Gandolfo.
We all arrived independently but there we are in a cluster of comments.
Boudican
ReplyDeleteI,m sorry to hear about your friend.Especially tough given she was only 56.
deano
ReplyDeletebut hey ho each to their own.
It may seem like i'm banging my head against a brick wall on waddya .But the way i see it is if plugging away at issues like ATOS helps raise awareness and ultimately plays the tiniest of tiny parts in getting the WCA''s stopped then it's worth the effort.I suppose it's the same when you advise people who've received the dreaded ESA50 from the DWP which invariably leads to a summons for a medical at ATOS.It may not seem much in the overall scheme of things but it's certainly better than doing nowt.And i'm sure it's much appreciated by the people you're helping.
btw Good to see you back.Somehow this place ain't the same without you :-)
Boudi
ReplyDeletethe loss of friends is painful. Thinking of you and your wife. Your friend's husband will be in need of your support; your friendship will be a comfort.
x
Evening folks. Just uploaded some pics of the Age Concern Demo today. It was pretty good, for a cold day on very short notice, a couple of hundred people and lots of them were the clients of the day centres that are getting the chop.
ReplyDeleteThe lady in the middle of this pic (in grey) is Lily Chitty, who is 99. She insisted in having a go on the megaphone which did not very well instead of a PA, and I had a chat with her and h er friend Edna (in navy) after they had said their bits.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78721068@N00/5367841228/
[Swivels eyes] You lefties move in packs.
ReplyDeleteLeni
ReplyDeleteI reckon that'll be you,me and gandolfo marked down in certain quarters as the 'terrible trio'.The lines between Athens and Brussels are buzzing as we speak :-)
evening all.
ReplyDeleteBoudican, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend - that must have been a huge shock.
leni, paul
ReplyDeleteall for one and one for all!!!
who do you guys want to be Athos, Porthos, or Aramis
that just leaves d'Artagnan
who want's to be him?
Forget about At(h)os, gandolfo ....
ReplyDeleteBoudican - very sorry to hear about your friend. Why does it seem that shit only happens to good people?
ReplyDeleteMedve - just catching up on the weekend's threads and read about your son's classmates; how horrible.
Depressing news.
Gandolfo
ReplyDeleteCan I be AntiAtos please ? Can I use my chariot with scythes attached ?
haha mschin
ReplyDelete......leni you can be At(h)os!!!!
Boudican
ReplyDeleteCondolences from me too.
x
Leni as AntiAtos - perfect!
ReplyDeleteWould like to be a female undercover version of d'Artagnan who ends up having a torrid affair with him.
ReplyDeleteWell...I applied...sent this into her blogsite (premoderated-big surprise)...and I'm just waiting for the call)
ReplyDeleteDear Laurie
OK..I'll be quite open about it..I'm a man..but I'm a long time admirer of yours, I'm desperate to break into the media as a radical new voice and I'm willing to work as long and hard as I need to get my foot on the first rung of the ladder. I'm absolutely horrified by the actions of this government and the possible repercussions on all sections of society and I like to think I have a long-standing history of rooting out and exposing hypocrisy and blatant self-interest.
I'll admit, at this stage, that a part of this post's attraction is a chance to share some of the kudos which will no doubt accrue through association with a proven and respected progressive campaigner like yourself. I'm a committed socialist although my background is fairly privileged. Currently I'm living in a shared house in North London on a modest allowance from my parents and some of the money Granny left me in her will. I hope my lack of working-class credentials won't disbar me from consideration...I know you're a friend of the workers and my imagination recoils at the sort of privations you probably suffered as a child. Frankly, I'm in awe at the fortitude you displayed in dragging yourself from the gutter and the bare-knuckle grit you showed in battling society's latent misogyny and disdain for proletarian intellectuals such as yourself. I'd consider it honour to work alongside you in the forthcoming struggle.
Anyway to sum up, I consider my major strengths to consist in:
A proven academic track-record in presenting any old single-issue relativist guff as 'sparkling' polemic.
The fact that you can keep the £500. I'll struggle by on my present stipend. Perhaps you can donate the money to a worthwhile cause.
My abject desperation to break into the media bubble and look cool and informed by spouting radical platitudes and trying to sound angry. (unfortunately I've got a whining childish voice and come off as a big petulant kid.)
Yours in anticipation
Tarquin Tristram fforbes-Richlist
Btw, has anyone seen the Hollywood Man in the Iron Mask film? More or less dream cast: Dépardieu as Porthos, the delectable Gabriel Byrne as d'Artagnan, Jeremy Irons as Aramis, and John Malcovich as Athos.
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely shite. Don't watch it if you haven't already wasted the time.
ohhhh comments come and go so i'm all out of sync wots goin on???????????
ReplyDeleteleni
antiathos it is......did the musketeers have chariots? well who cares have one!!
thauma
yeah in fact....... wot about the wimin?
and doggies could all be the reincarnations of dogtagnan.......!!!
i think i'll go for the female version of porthos........gullible........
see msreed hasn't even bothered to address her post to me.....rather than answer the questions posted her dinner menu........says it all really...think i'll tell her not to bother her response so far speaks for itself......contempt and ignorance........
"what I'm writing about touches directly on motherhood, and I am child-free."
ReplyDeletegood start penz.... in fact why start talking now about something that you have experience of, especially at such a crucial point in your "career".....
thauma
ReplyDeleteMarkopoulou and Smolin have argued that the low energy limit of LQG may suffer from a conflict between locality, as defined by
the connectivity of spin networks, and an averaged notion of locality that emerges at low energy from a superposition of spin network
states. I am testing a non-local quantum entangled internet dinner delivery system that exploits this conflict. You should by now have received a modest portion of penne with garlic and parmesan with a sauce of unknown quantum state. Please let me know the result of the experiment.
MF
ReplyDeletehope you get the job .........!! i reckon with that application you could get it.....shame about the gonads....they might have to go if you get short listed......... :o)
Medve - unfortunately there seems to be a slight bug in the software in that no food has been delivered. However, a lump of coal has inexplicably arrived in my in-box.
ReplyDeleteHave raised a Code 1 Incident Report and, when it gets approved six years from now, expect your prompt response in debugging the issue.
Hey monkeyfish, I applied as well and I got this reply:
ReplyDeleteSorry Mr. Scherfig (I hope that's not a 'Muslim' name, ha ha), but I've just given the job to my bestest bestest chum and hero of my generation, fellow unemployed, homeless Oxbridge graduate Tamsin Omond. She's had a run of bad luck lately what with being kicked out of Plane Stupid for bring too stupid and then only getting 0.2% of constituency votes in the general election. And then the radical new political party (which she herself founded!) kicked her out as well. So I felt obliged to give her a bit of a leg-up in the old journo business now that I'm even more famous and powerful and radical than Seumas Milne. Plus her grandpapa (the fabulously rich baronet) says that he'll actually pay me if I take her on for a bit and keep her off the streets and out of airports.
Anyway, due to the sheer barrage of applications what I have received I have decided to employ a select group of 50 or 60 wannabees to make my toast, do my ironing, roll my cigarettes and so on. If you wish to be considered for one of these status-enhancing positions, please post 5 crisp new £20 notes to PO Box 25463, and Tamsin will probably get back to you at some stage.
What do you think? It's worth a shot to get into the meejah, isn't it?
Ahem.
ReplyDeleteThis post meets the criterion for a Genuine Occupational Requirement:
And I'm the right gender ... or should that be sex? ... what about transgender? ... yeah, that works.
*elbows out the gonad-driven competition*
And I once went to a conference at Oxford Uni .. or was it Cambridge?
Seem to remember being stuck on the train home from that bloody conference for 5 hours, not allowed to smoke of course so had to annoy the jobsworth in the buffet car by drinking a G&T or several. Ended up a bit pished & a bit gobby ...
ReplyDeleteI can beat that, MsChin. I once went to a meeting of a secret intellectual society in a Cambridge College. I was about 17 at the time.
ReplyDeleteThey talked about Uri Geller bending spoons, which was what lots of people talked about in those days.
Oooo, Spencer! That must've been er, riveting.
ReplyDeleteI assume you were off your head on some illegal substance at the time?
Anyways, I think we're going to have to try harder with our CVs, MF & sherfig seem to have the edge, credentials-wise, at the moment.
Advertises a job as "monkeywork" ... FFS.
ReplyDeletemschin
ReplyDeletei reckon making a good cup of tea and doing penz shopping at waitrose should give us the edge and of course being the mod for her blog....time consuming but we could do it out of hours........unpaid of course
Mschin but do you greenham common on ya CV? rad femz stuff that's a plus...that and motherhood....do you think a dog counts?
gandolfo
ReplyDeleteGreenham Common? No, but sheff does ... don't think she will mind if I borrow her time there. She's got Orgreave as well.
Oh, to see Yosser Hughes ask Penny for a job...
ReplyDeleteEeek. Just watched Robert Peston's programme on Banks being too big to bail out.
ReplyDeleteScary stuff.
Great analogy from a scientist who has looked at them and compares the big banks to HIV super carriers infecting the rest of the economy.
mschin
ReplyDeletesheff'll lend them, (assuming she hasn't applied for the job!)so, so far we've got 2 greenham commons, an orgreave, poll tax riots, numerous NUPE strikes, motherhood, doghood,
what else......?any intenational feministy solidarity under ya belt?
Liked your music hour song, Paul, I'd never heard of Kem Love before. Nice one.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"what I'm writing about touches directly on motherhood, and I am child-free."
ReplyDelete...a very telling phrase.."child-free"..why not childless?..or "but I don't actually have any children? The "-free" suffix generally follows something with negative associations...cancer-free, debt-free, pain-free
You never see..."money-free"..tends to be "pennyless"...or "joy-free"...generally joyless
obviously, there's "drug-free" but that's hardly anything to celebrate
Seems Ms P regards children as something of a curse...so clearly just the person to opine on motherhood...although, to be fair...when you're a radical young bullshitting upper middle-class pseudo-prole voice of a generation...and the 'hero' generation at that, if memory serves...a child's clearly gonna take up too much of your valuable time...especially if you're too busy to research your own fuckin book...what with all the media posing to fit in...although, as it happens she rarely leaves the house..
from her blog..."I'm based in London, UK, but you don't have to be, I rarely leave my house anyway except for bothering the police and bits of grocery shopping."
I'm starting to become aware that her bullshitting and fakery is becoming a bit of an obsession on here but WTF?..she's symptomatic of everything that's wrong with British media..full of fuckin idiots striking poses and being acclaimed as 'experts' by other idiots...all of which is very useful to certain parties...she's even worse than Toynbee...at least Pol went out contract cleaning on minimum wage for a month or two so she could convey the despair of a lifetime of casually employed drudgery...before a well-earned month's recuperation in you know where..."just a simple calf's liver with mushroom risotto tonight thanks Maria...and a bottle of that lovely Chianti..."
Thankfully you don't have to make it up...cos let's face it, you just couldn't...who'd fuckin believe it?
any intenational feministy solidarity under ya belt?
ReplyDeleteYep, academic credentials - check
Plus:
G8 - check
Stop the War - check
Spencer's willy - could possibly (re)arrange something there ..
habib
Yosser aka monkeyfish has already applied.
"Advertises a job as "monkeywork" ... FFS"
ReplyDeleteand a 'blue-chip' application comes flyin in from a certain 'monkekfish'...this thing was fated
I can't type straight tonight..just don't tell Laurie
gandolfo
ReplyDeleteI can add another Greenham and support for disabled women and children among Vietnamese refugees.
Mind I have supported men and boys too - perhaps better not to mention that.
MF "I'm starting to become aware her bullshitting and fakery is becoming a bit of an obsession on here"
ReplyDeleteFunny you should say that. I was going to defend her the other day but since the poor girl who just got into Oxford stuff seems to be unravelling I am glad I couldn't be arsed.
I've got Secours Populaire and
ReplyDeleteTerre des Hommes that you can chuck into the mix - from a long time ago, mind. :o)
Spencer's willy?!! I need to read up the thread a bit.... :O
ReplyDeletePS: Re creds - The approved school is probably the best one MsC. Cruelly banged up for two years for running away from a deranged parent.
ReplyDeleteleni
ReplyDeletegood call don't mention the menz and boyz....
academic quals........well just about string 2 words together these days so yep..well that's more than pen....
anti war......check.......
G8.........check
international solidarity in the field against forced sterilisation of women in salvador ....check........hang on uncheck...she'd most probably see that as worth while child free being a liberation an all........
Hang on hang on gals.....
living in a house of lesbians in north london anyone???? no not you spencer still gotta sort out the willy.....
Yep, approved school. Prison, young offenders or borstal would be better .. my mate did 18 months for GBH years ago, we'll borrow that as well, she won't mind.
ReplyDeleteI love this Datablog stuff - guess which nations own the most US treasury bonds?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/18/us-federal-deficit-china-america-debt
MsChin
ReplyDeleterad fem stuff like women against pit closures
What about 'Women Against Shaved Pits'?
Not living in North London for anyone, not even a house full of rad lesbian feminists.
ReplyDeletePaul
ReplyDeleteNow you're getting a bit personal ... and anti-European.
any intenational feministy solidarity under ya belt?
ReplyDeleteI chatted with a couple of wimminz at the M&S food checkout.
Will that do?
..she's symptomatic of everything that's wrong with British media..full of fuckin idiots striking poses and being acclaimed as 'experts' by other idiots...all of which is very useful to certain parties...
The point with the media sphere which Penny Dreadful occupies is that it is self-referential, self-reverential, self-regarding and basically self-replicating.
If a news story requires someone to know something about a particular make of car, for example, it would never cross their empty little minds to phone, say, a garage.
It will suddenly become, though, an entry for someone who once thought about buying that particular car. They are the expert for the day and then forever afterwards. In fact, they are basically the new transport correspondent, with an option to stand in on military aircraft as the need arises.
All because they once picked up a brochure for a Toyota SpaceInvader.
sheff
ReplyDeletedon't give up.......you've got hiding asylum seekers........but were they menz or wiminz? sure you can easily blag it....
Bloody hell MsC I didn't know we owned so much of America - that must be at least one biggish states worth - do you think we could buy Montana out?
ReplyDeletegandolfo
ReplyDeleteGood one!
Innit, sheff! We'll put a bid on Iowa tomorrow and get her & Joe over here on the loose change.
Mostly menz gandolfo but there were a few wimmin too. I've also got the time I spent with the EPLF in Eritrea - I had forgotten about that.
ReplyDeleteI think we have the intern job in the bag. Atoms' chatting to wimmin in M&S & Paul's WASPs clinched it.
ReplyDeleteIt'll take 10 days or so to write up the rather lengthy CV we've come up with - when's the closing date again?
All that thinking has quite worn me out. Time for bed.
ReplyDeleteNN all.
Yes, I shall do the same.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll curl up in my usual spot on the floor.
Bed, indeed!
You and your fancy ways.
sheff mschin
ReplyDeletewe're on a roll.......joint application- job share?
we'll be in and out by lunchtime.....sabotage could be done in minutes ....only a brief trip to north london straight on the thames link and out like a shot........ bet polz toynz will give us a reference to get the opostion out of the way.....
"We'll put a bid on Iowa tomorrow..."
you play the markets as well mschin right put that down as liberation of women from oppressive regimes
Gandofo
ReplyDelete.only a brief trip to north london straight on the thames link and out like a shot.
Won't be that short if we're depending on the Northern Line - but I do know my way round Nth London.
If the UK buying Iowa gets me to the UK -- I'm all for it. I want to be in the geographical UK, mind. I don't want to stay in the Iowa annex.
ReplyDeleteMsChin
ReplyDeleteNow you're getting a bit personal ... and anti-European.
Apologies-would 'MIE Against Shaved Pits' be more acceptable?
sheff
ReplyDeleteme too....for my sins!!
right off to bed.......up in 6 hours arghhhhhh! night all
just thought james anyone seen a brazilian flag? hope he's alright....
IOWA.... well there's one ready made Montana, just for you and joe the Isle of Wight Annex
ReplyDeletethey got coloured sand there.....not all bad....
defo off now........hi 'nd bye montana!
Hi Habib
ReplyDeleteHere's another track from KEM
He's just got a new album out so it should hit YouTube anytime soon.
Nite all
Well, I'll curl up in my usual spot on the floor.
ReplyDeleteWhat'd you do to piss off Atomgirl?
Re: the Penny application
I can offer the following:
1. attended an actual lecture at Cambridge (on Le Rouge et le Noir) once (I was visiting a friend who was at Newnham College).
2. single mum
3. Gulf War I protests
4. Voted for Gus Hall & Angela Davis (US Communist Party) in the 1984 election.
5. Nearly participated in 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, but decided that it might be risky for a 3 month old baby. Know people who did participate who would be happy to lend the experience.
Habib
ReplyDeleteHere's a taster from KEM's latest album which is called INTIMACY 111.As i said there's nothing else from it on YouTube at present but it's worth keeping an eye out for.
Hope all's good with you man!
In fact scrub what i've told you cos some of the tracks from INTIMACY are now on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteI think i'm losin' it!
Oh frig, I feel like a right plank tonight but also tremendously relieved.
ReplyDeleteI won't bore you with the details 'coz you probably don't know or weren't interested anyway but I'm sure Deano and quite possibly the Duke would like to know.
Anyway feel free to scroll on by if this doesn't float your boat but here's a brief precis:
A few years ago Deano mentioned that he might have seen my Dad play football at Elland Road with the great John Charles.
It turned out that he was right and I promised to dig out my Dad's old scrapbooks to bring along to a UT meet in Sheffield.
So I set about tracking them down but no one seemed to know where they were.
Myself and my four sisters knew that my Mum had loaned all my Dad's memorabilia to the Bramall Lane Hall of Fame but although they kept some of his medals and silverware, they were adamant that the scrapbooks had been returned to my Mum.
(They were quite right, btw and they were exemplary in the way they handled this somewhat sensitive situation. So full marks to them)
Anyway, my Mum was increasingly succumbing to a state of dementia so asking her where the scrapbooks might be was a bit of a waste of time.
To cut a long story short, myself and my sisters have spent the last four years dreading the possibility that these priceless documents got chucked in a skip by accident somewhere along the line.
And since all of us were convinced we didn't have them, none us even bothered to check.
Step forward "International Loft Insulation Rescue"
Yep: had to clear out loft and guess what, there they were!
I have no idea how they ended up there but they are all accounted for and non the worse for their exile in my attic.
I've just been leafing through them and they really are a fascinating and comprehensive account of what it was like to be a professional footballer back in the day!
The chronicle is awesome of a career from 1944-1958
chekhov
ReplyDeleteSo glad you found everything - a precious archive for you and your family.
you must post some of the stuff on here. Even I who knows nowt of football would be interested.
PS - What is it about you and attics?
@Leni: I can't tell you how thrilled me and my sisters are to have re-discovered this archive and apart from informing them I had to phone the bloke at Bramall Lane to say that it wasn't his fault either!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to put it "online" but I'm sure it's possible!
chekhov, that's great news, made me feel happy. I hope we all get to see this gem.
ReplyDeletechekhov
ReplyDeleteHave you got a scanner? You can copy anything to your computer and then post it on line.
Ask Amelie.
Nice one chekhov
ReplyDeleteAnd as well as being of sentimental value they could be worth a couple of bob too.Don't know a lot about these things but i assume such a collection would/could be covered by a standard house contents insurance scheme.Might be worth checking.
"PS - What is it about you and attics?"
ReplyDeleteDunno Leni unless it's something "Freudian"!
Paul. "Find your way" is really not my kind of music, generally, but I love it. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteReminded me a bit of this song, don't know why, sorry.
Chekov - was just checking in and read your memorabillia post. I know nothing about football (like Leni) but would be genuinely interested to see photos etc that you have found.
ReplyDeleteNo need to be sorry Habib cos i enjoyed that.I'm trying to broaden my taste in music.Although when i activated the link my first thought was 'what the fuck is AllyF doin' on it!'
ReplyDeleteJust want to say too that I am so glad you found them.
ReplyDeleteHello Princess and anyone who else who is interested, my Dad's scrapbooks are open to anyone and anyone interested in the history of professional football would wet their knickers to have a look at this stuff!
ReplyDeletechekhov
ReplyDeletePerhaps you can use some of the major incidents chronicled to write a tv drama - could be interesting for a lot of people.
chekhov - again
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the history of the game but I'm sure that when your dad was playing most guys played for their home town, were involved with and lived among the supporters.
You could look at it as a social document about the WC and perhaps compare it to the celeb life of footballers toaday who move from club to club - along with the changes in the structure of the clubs and the money involved.
"when i activated the link my first thought was 'what the fuck is AllyF doin' on it!'"
ReplyDeleteCheers, Paul, you've fucked up a perfectly good song for me...
Just kidding, that was true and funny. I know many on here don't like AllyF, but I do. I don't always agree with him, but I think he's funny.
Sure, he vacillates, but he covers all the bases and I think that's a good game plan if you value a reputation on CiF and being read by thousands...
I don't know about the history of the game but I'm sure that when your dad was playing most guys played for their home town, were involved with and lived among the supporters.
ReplyDeleteYou could look at it as a social document about the WC and perhaps compare it to the celeb life of footballers toaday who move from club to club - along with the changes in the structure of the clubs and the money involved.
Good idea Leni. I'll have a pop at that!
You lot all watching the footie then!
ReplyDeleteChekhov - that stuff of your father's sounds fascinating.
Bet it shows how football has changed eh? It really was the people's game in those days.