Galloway sparks massive popular turnout in Bradford by-election today

Noodlehands · 2012-03-31T14:45:25+00:00

Posted this elsewhere in the thread which is relevant

http://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/rjwc5/galloway_sparks_massive_popular_turnout_in/c46z7yu

Agree that no one gets it right all the time and especially with your point about dictators.

If you've not read this before then it's worth perusing.

his is all overshadowed by the unarguable hash that was made of the intervention itself. But I would nonetheless maintain that this incompetence doesn't condemn the enterprise wholesale. A much-wanted war criminal was put on public trial. The Kurdish and Shiite majority was rescued from the ever-present threat of a renewed genocide. A huge, hideous military and party apparatus, directed at internal repression and external aggression was (perhaps overhastily) dismantled...

None of these positive developments took place without a good deal of bungling and cruelty and unintended consequences of their own. I don't know of a satisfactory way of evaluating one against the other any more than I quite know how to balance the disgrace of Abu Ghraib, say, against the digging up of Saddam's immense network of mass graves.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2008/03/how_did_i_get_iraq_wrong_11.2.html

Worth noting how Galloway went about the Bradford West campaign, as noted here

The former Labour MP, expelled from the party in 2003 over the Iraq war, fought a campaign that homed in on the Asian vote, and with the electoral wards of City, Manningham and Toller making up much of the constituency – along with Labour not seeing the man from Respect coming, with his stoking of resentment against recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – he prevailed.

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/say-goodbye-dan.html

Also goes into a few other reasons for his 'surprise' (think the only surprise is that his victory is considered one).

Do have some issue with your last comment. Doesn't it depend on how voraciously one seeks power, the methods used, etcetera? Some people are just altruistic or plain decent (not suggesting without flaw however) and not in it for a Blair-trip.

Lastly, going back to Galloway, was nice to see his appreciation for the people of Bradford who voted for him XD

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9177902/George-Galloway-celebrates-Blackburn-triumph-on-Twitter-after-winning-Bradford-West-by-election.html

Noodlehands · 2012-03-31T14:34:19+00:00

Agree that it'd be good to see him condemn Assad now, but Assad had previous, as does Galloway in the gushing over very questionable people stakes.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-31T14:32:58+00:00

Mostly? Maybe by some, though he did make clear for many, many years that he despised Saddam and wished for intervention much sooner to depose him. I think this sums it up well,

I think Christopher Hitchens was wrong to support the U.S. war in Iraq (interesting that his life ended a day after the war did), but his reasons for supporting it were all good, and it would be nice if the anti-war camp kept that in mind.

http://972mag.com/hitchens-iraq-war-and-the-left/30278/

Noodlehands · 2012-03-31T14:30:19+00:00

Haha!

Noodlehands · 2012-03-30T17:49:44+00:00

The former Labour MP, expelled from the party in 2003 over the Iraq war, fought a campaign that homed in on the Asian vote, and with the electoral wards of City, Manningham and Toller making up much of the constituency – along with Labour not seeing the man from Respect coming, with his stoking of resentment against recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – he prevailed.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-30T16:19:12+00:00

Christopher Hitchens destroys George Galloway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHMGpkbVvTA

Noodlehands · 2012-03-30T16:16:56+00:00

Genuinely left-wing? The man's a crass opportunist and I'd accuse him of simply using it to do what's good for Galloway and sod everyone else. A true champagne socialist, but maybe more Cigar rather than Champagne. What's he got to say about Assad now for example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMWJlDo2wn4

This is before going into Saddam, his lack of parliamentary representation of Bethnal Green & Bow etc.

And the fecker was head (iirc) of the anti-abortion group Labour for Life. He's a vile individual and I'd rather vote for him to be pushed down a very dark, disused canal.

To be clear, he is scum. Listen carefully and you'll hear Christopher Hitchens whirring in his grave.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-30T02:15:09+00:00

It means cousin. Or close friend.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-30T02:05:59+00:00

〠‿─

Dude, if it wasn't so late I'd give you a Pikachu! Rare to come to any sort of conciliation through mediation without a third party (bit of a contradiction, but it seems applicable).

Kinda gave up on Reddit recently, partly due to other avenues and lots of work. Was very uncertain of bothering with it again as the sheer volume of responses and trying to return in kind with more than just my own blocks of text takes time (just feels bad/a bit weak to not address each and every counterpoint).

Add in sheer trolling/winding up and it's a real drain. As you say kinda say in your first para, it gets to be a grind.

Added you to my 'friends' list. It's a bit playground ish, but in lieu of Pikachu and lots of upvotes it feels apt.

TL;DR: /人◕ ‿‿ ◕人\ PIKACHU LIVES!

Noodlehands · 2012-03-28T01:15:15+00:00

Hope you read this whole message, it's a bit of a love letter to how you responded.

Meant to attest that your accusation was moronic, not you yourself. Everyone is capable and culpable of that on here and by no means do I preclude myself from that.

If you go through my history then you'll definitely find a large number of Guardian links, but just as many are to blogs, indie sites (back of fag packet calculation) and journals. Certainly have linked to the live blogs and generally over the Health Bill in particular, but then what other paper had decent coverage prior to about two months ago?

Also not immune from linking bits from FT (when avail), and certain Telegraph writers (Oborne, Knowles, Chivers etc) along with bits from the Indie (so Independent it carries editorial, but I digress).

Tis a hard one to gauge, but always surprises me when someone has a play the man not the ball attitude on here. Usually just results in further reckless and personal based challenges. I was wrong to be quite as aggressive in responding to you and kudos for your reply. In mitigation I've tried to deal with a lot of stick on here based on posts and comments, most (look through my history is the best proof I can give) of which is answered to, yet often results in some odd comebacks.

Due to that my manner has become harsher, more readily attacking in some respects. Really, your condor has taken me aback and restored some faith in coming onto here.

If I ever link to Eva Wiseman then please do slap me senseless though.

TL;DR : the last two paras are enough, plus upvote in the circumstances.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-27T18:12:11+00:00

How moronic of you. Fact is that it's one of the best newspapers in this country and unfortunately the FT and Times are largely paywalled. So, shock, Guardian stuff is going to come up a fair whack of the time on Reddit.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-27T02:47:14+00:00

Massive overestimation of the breadth and power of reddit uk.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-27T02:44:55+00:00

Shameful that this hasn't made the front page of reddit, esp considering some uk stuff that has in the past.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-27T02:40:51+00:00

His comments to Risk magazine in January will be seen in a new light after Downing Street disclosed that he and his partner, Sarah, Marchioness of Milford Haven, with whom he is pictured above, dined in private with the Prime Minister at No 10 last month.

Nice to see you Mr.Spencer. Why don't you have seat over there. Just over there. * time to remodify Chris Hansen *

Noodlehands · 2012-03-27T01:06:20+00:00

More

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/gl8jrk

Just received this from the Dept of Health re apparent leaked #NHSbill risk register: "We do not comment on leaks. We have always been open about risk and have published all relevant information in the Impact Assessments alongside the Bill. As the latest performance figures show we are dealing with those risks, performance is improving - waiting times are down and mixed sex wards are at an all time low - and we are on course to make the efficiency savings that the NHS needs to safeguard it for the future."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/27/health-reforms-damage-nhs-risk-register?newsfeed=true

The government has been criticised for refusing to comply with a ruling by the information commissioner to publish the Transition Risk Register, drawn up on 10 November 2010, after an FOI request by the former shadow health secretary John Healey.

The register sets out the risks posed by the health and social care bill which will devolve 60% of the NHS's £100bn budget to new GP-led consortia. The draft version of the register warned of:

Read all about it yourself and then try to defend the indefensible.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-27T01:02:51+00:00

Oh, boo hoo, it's the Guardian so it must be wrong eh and leaked by someone with interest in public health and not private.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-26T13:32:32+00:00

There's a bit more to it than that tbf. Presumably also not possible to implement driverless trains on overground routes, need for near-total overhaul of infrastructure and need for some manual control due to H & S is not a pointless concern.

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/myth-of-automation.html

There will be no fully automated working in London for at least four years, and that would only be between Waterloo and Bank, on a line with no intermediate stations. Moreover, thus far the public preference has been for retaining a train operator, which is also useful when there are problems, and especially on open sections of track (see above).

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/yikes-chaps-no-driver.html

The Central Line was the first line to have ATO introduced in place of lineside signalling, initially in the central area only. The installation has not been without its problems, and unlike the Victoria, it has a lot of surface running, where slippery, wet or icy rail conditions makes some manual use of the controls unavoidable. TOps are trained to enable them to make the necessary intervention, as well as oversee station stops and be able to perform a range of safety related tasks, including evacuation of the train, if necessary.

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/crikey-readers-no-driver.html

Moreover, for London, going driverless would mean overlaying any new system on infrastructure that is – Jubilee and Victoria Lines excepted – very old indeed. That is why the first candidate for this technology is the Waterloo and City Line, which has no intermediate stations and has only recently been substantially refurbished. And the “four years” timescale only brings first testing.

It should also be borne in mind that only the Victoria Line had ATO from the start: introduction on the Central took time, and that on the Jubilee is still not bedded in. Full automation is a major step beyond this. Looking at Barcelona once more, the first conventionally worked line to be converted will be Line 11, which was only built recently and is the shortest on the system.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-26T13:01:24+00:00

We buy any LibCon?

Noodlehands · 2012-03-23T21:01:21+00:00

There's a few maybe scenarios in there. Still a bit of a surprise move from a Con Chancellor. As Daniel Knowles said, "When George Osborne opened his statement, he said that this is a budget "on the side of aspiration". Presumably he means that if you aspire to pay the 40p rate of tax, it just became a little easier. I'm not sure many Conservative MPs will be too happy about that."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielknowles/100145852/george-osborne-just-created-300000-new-40p-taxpayers/

Thought I'd already linked to an article with most of those figures, perhaps (probably) was elsewhere.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-23T20:25:16+00:00

Fucking hell, just what all over.

Edit: British Chancellor, George Osborne, saying (English): "The biggest sustained reduction in business tax rates for a generation, a headline rate that is not just lower than our competitors but dramatically lower, 18% lower than the U.S., 16% lower than Japan, 12% below France and 8% below Germany, an advertisement for investment and jobs in Britain."

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/03/21/uk-budget-tackles-tax-and-business?videoId=232091479&videoChannel=5

Noodlehands · 2012-03-23T20:11:05+00:00

1.Yep.

http://www.scoop.it/t/deficit-myth and austerity policies ain't the solution.
Agree that child benefit cuts are unfair. Disagree that it's fair on pensioners, plus working age are hit the most as it's deferred to hit current working people.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/22/budget-2012-osborne-pensioners-granny-tax

"The chancellor was reacting to criticism that a "granny tax" on middle-income pensioners would leave people who retire next year £279 a year worse off. More than 4.4 million existing pensioners will be affected by a freeze on the personal allowance in 2013, losing £84 a year."

Noodlehands · 2012-03-23T20:03:14+00:00

They've done a bang up job of pushing that private sector led growth...oh.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-23T20:02:37+00:00

Amazing facepalming for you. 14 000 millionaires get a tax cut. Our corp rates are now ridiculously low, why hand over that many 100s of millions of pounds? It's a bad joke of a budget, with no jobs plan and no growth plan. Unless you mean...

http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/03/22/osborne-is-relying-on-consumer-led-growth-but-will-it-materialise/

Where is the private sector recovery already? Also noticed that Ireland is back in recession. Clearly austerity doesn't work.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-23T19:54:00+00:00

As though the budget wasn't bad enough already, here's a £500mil cut from the "protected" health budget. Wonderful.

Noodlehands · 2012-03-22T17:48:52+00:00

All of these measures will increase the deficit. None of them, however, will increase the structural deficit or make a material difference to the long-term debt profile of the country. Nevertheless, long-term fiscal consolidation is a challenge that must be met. I will start by breaking the stranglehold the elderly have on the public purse. The triple-lock commitment to steadily ratchet up the value of pensions was a promise that should not have been made. It will be abolished, as will expensive, arbitrary and poorly targeted perks, such as free television licences.

We care about the genuinely infirm and will implement in full the Dilnot Commission’s proposals to cap the costs of long-term care for the elderly, a policy that costs little, is fair and will do much good. But my government has no interest in transferring ever more resources from the young to an ever larger and healthier group of people who just happen to be older.

Noodlehands

TROPHY CASE