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Re: Today’s headlines .........
While still on the subject of British politics, I've noticed UKIP, who were at their high point during the early-mid 2010s, seem to be much lower-key of late, and the BNP, who in turn were at their highest point during the latter half of the 2000s (concurrent with the then-rise of UKIP, but eventually superseded by them) barely ever seem to get mentioned at all these days.
Obviously both have now been largely superseded by Reform UK who are basically just another 'UKIP'/'BNP' party in all but name.
Another potent example of fickle fads and fashions in the world of politics.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
As I mentioned, not a fag paper between ‘em!
Haven't quite a few people perceived that for ages now, especially since the Blair era?
Mind you, for better or worse, it might sound like some kind of possible Labour-Tory 'Coalition' govt in the making?
I could be wrong though.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Well, I’ve certainly perceived for a long time the lamentable state of affairs that is centrist politics – no effective left or right wing identities, just that great grey graveyard where political ideals go to wither and die, mostly from a terminally chronic lack of will to live.
I do remember Corbyn getting it in the neck for supposedly being too Leftist during his tenure as Labour leader, let alone all the anti-Semitic allegations he was on the receiving end of at the same time, though the latter is a whole 'nother story altogether.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Child’s Play....
Apparently, Sir Keir Starmer’s not kidding when he says he sees no problem in allowing 16 year-olds the vote, even though the age of majority in the UK is 18. Presumably he’s been toying with this idea because the vast majority of teenage children could more easily be, erm...
persuaded to vote for him?...
‘
Asked by reporters on the campaign trail in Staffordshire whether Labour would lower the voting age, Sir Keir said: “Yes, I want to see both 16 and 17-year-olds. If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2551455.html
‘
The party leader said anyone paying tax should “have a say” in how their money is spent as he was questioned about the commitment on Saturday.’
Now just a vote-grabbing minute! No one should be under the democratic illusion that having a vote confers any sort of right to
“have a say” that will be heard or acted upon by any government; not even the one for which they voted.
Anyway, didn’t Sir Keir Starmer support Rishi Sunak’s Peter Pan law – the one in which children would be treated as children forever when it came to their purchasing of cigarettes?...
Responsible enough to be trusted with a vote for a parliamentary candidate, but never responsible enough to be trusted with their own health?
I suppose that's a bit of a grey area and certainly makes for a classic case of 'whataboutery'.
The minimum legal age for voting in elections and purchasing alcohol has always been 18, the minimum legal age for driving cars has always been 17, and 16 for driving motorbikes, having the legal right to have relationships and live independently, and historically, 16 was the minimum legal age for purchasing tobacco products, which of course was raised to 18 in 2007 soon after England's smoking ban.
I think as to what constitutes the minimum age of majority has always been controversial and a subject of much confusion and debate.
Plus of course, chances are there will always be some 16-17-year-olds who will instead vote for parties other than Labour (like any age group) if the legal minimum voting age was lowered to 16.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Criminally Minded....
Have you been considering committing a crime, doing a bit of wrongdoing, or simply wondered how far you can push your illegal luck without having your collar felt? Well now’s your chance, because there’s never been a better time to avoid doing time.
‘
Police are reportedly being advised to arrest fewer people in a bid to ease overcrowding in prisons.’
http://https://www.itv.com/news/2024...rowding-report
Should upstanding, law-abiding members of society take offence while criminals are told to feel free to do whatever they like? I dunno, perhaps whoever it was who came up with the directive should be locked up for this arrested development?...
Although this post is from a few days ago, it's yet another one of those 'grey area' issues IMO.
While I'm certainly not acting as an apologist for criminals, nor making excuses for them per se, it's often been thought over more recent times that prison can actually make criminals worse, and inadvertently be a lesson in bad behaviours, with the only real benefits being the crims are 'out of sight, out of mind' from the law-abiding majority of the general public for a set period, often reoffending (sometimes in even worse ways) following release. Unless the crims have committed the most extreme offences that warrant a life sentence (e.g, murder).
It's often been said that Norway, for example, actually has a far more effective criminal justice system that deals with crims who have committed 'lesser' offences, which probably should have been looked into elsewhere in the world (including here in Britain), but instead; given many of us Brits are so set in our ways and profoundly resistant to change, and still believe in the same old 'Prison Works' ideology, as (in)famously uttered by Michael Howard back in 1993.
Same as many of us here in England are still hesitant towards the banning of smacking children on the basis of the popular belief that it 'never did past generations any harm', 'kids today are more out of control than ever before'*, etc, while Scotland and Wales have already moved with the times and banned it, despite the common stereotypical assumptions of both nations often being 'behind the times' in general compared to England.
But the 'status quo' will pretty much always be the rule with many things here, regardless of people's general understandings, and the vote for Brexit in 2016 in particular, most ironically seemed to be for 'one big change to end all change'.
*BTW, there doesn't currently appear to be any hard evidence that 'kids today' are actually more out of control than ever before. In fact, I've hardly noticed overhearing any conversations about said topic for at least a decade or so now, unlike back in the 90s and 2000s when and where such conversations seemed almost ubiquitous, especially among people beyond the age of 30.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
The uk age of majority certainly isn’t legally a ‘grey area’ Lencoboy, and it hasn’t always been 18; it was lowered in 1969 from 21 (a move which some folks think should be reversed). Furthermore, 'whataboutery' doesn't come into it!
.
I kind of see the point about 21 being the 'historical' age of majority.
After all, don't we have the 'Challenge 21' policy regarding the purchase of alcohol in shops, pubs, etc, even though there's always some who still continue to sell to under-agers 'on the sly'?
Plus on the face of it the 16-18 age range of 'age of majority' does seem rather haphazard as it covers various age-related restrictions, whereas 21 for everything would probably be far more logical in many ways. Especially as many seem to appear younger than their actual age for longer nowadays.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Child’s Play....
Apparently, Sir Keir Starmer’s not kidding when he says he sees no problem in allowing 16 year-olds the vote, even though the age of majority in the UK is 18. Presumably he’s been toying with this idea because the vast majority of teenage children could more easily be, erm...
persuaded to vote for him?...
‘
Asked by reporters on the campaign trail in Staffordshire whether Labour would lower the voting age, Sir Keir said: “Yes, I want to see both 16 and 17-year-olds. If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2551455.html
‘
The party leader said anyone paying tax should “have a say” in how their money is spent as he was questioned about the commitment on Saturday.’
Now just a vote-grabbing minute! No one should be under the democratic illusion that having a vote confers any sort of right to
“have a say” that will be heard or acted upon by any government; not even the one for which they voted.
Anyway, didn’t Sir Keir Starmer support
Rishi Sunak’s Peter Pan law – the one in which children would be treated as children forever when it came to their purchasing of cigarettes?...
Responsible enough to be trusted with a vote for a parliamentary candidate, but
never responsible enough to be trusted with their own health?
Also, didn't Sunak say the other day that he's now decided to U-turn on that proposal since he's now at long last conceded to the GE on 4th July after previously wanting to wait until around the end of this year?
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
This doesn’t alter the fact that Sir Keir Starmer supported/supports the Peter Pan bill and has indicated an intent to bring it back to parliament if he’s given the chance. It also doesn’t alter the fact, or the substance of my post, that there’s a whiff of smouldering hypocrisy about treating children as adults, but only when there’s a perceived political advantage to be had; and vice versa....
TBH, I already pointed out when this proposal was first announced upthread that I think it's unworkable (despite me being as anti-smoking as it gets), especially as there will always be certain 'untouchables' who either manage to obtain tobacco products underage or those who sell/supply them to underagers 'on the sly' with impunity.
Ditto for the tiny minority of parents/carers who still continue to smoke 'on the sly' in cars with children present, which is one of my biggest bugbears; especially when satff at my day centre and even my own dad tells me to 'get a life' to and 'stop worrying about other people's problems' whenever I mention it.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
I have to say I agree with you Pain. As a child and young man I would always enjoy fishing, but especially so under my umbrella with the rain pattering on the canvas. And you'd always get that fresh smell that comes with rain. Sounds are more distinct too, something to do with sound waves travelling faster with a humid atmosphere.
In the family building firm my Dad would say 'you can hear the trains'. Meaning wet weather was on it's way. And we'd be in a mess without it, think Mars.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Fishy, I also used to do a fair bit of fishing of all types, and the best time to go after tench was a sultry summer’s day just as a thunder storm was breaking. These days, especially with modern carbon fibre poles, there’re probably horror warnings about doing that!
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
But strangely, unlike in the 2000s, hardly anyone seems to care about ASB anymore, even though it's still a thing to certain extents.
Back then it was a major moral panic highly symbolic of 'Broken Britain'.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Confused By Sex?...
Agenda not really necessary to identify what you are, but the Conservatives believe this should legally be borne out by your birth certificate, apparently.
‘
The Conservatives have promised to rewrite the Equality Act so that protections it enshrines on the basis of a person’s sex apply only to their biological sex.’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kkvkkejgno
This might not be a policy to appeal to those voters who are undecided about their inclinations.... They could swing one way or the other.
Seems to me like the Tories are just getting more desperate by the day and basically jumping on any old bandwagon in order to chase votes in the upcoming GE.
Another particular example of note was during last week's hoo-ha over Diane Abbott where the Tories, Reform UK, etc, were basically 'pretending' to be down with Abbott and her issues but would no doubt otherwise be slagging her off big time and calling for the book to be thrown at her if a GE wasn't currently in the offing.
Just proves how ambivalent, fickle and over-reliant on 'gimmicks' they are, no doubt to deflect from their own failings as a party/govt.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
AI Reveals Its Crystal Balls...
and starts telling us the outcome of stuff that hasn’t even happened yet! This is almost unbelievable (although I wouldn’t bet on it).
‘
ChatGPT tells users Labour has already won the election’...
https://news.sky.com/story/chatgpt-t...ction-13148330
There you go then; not much point in hot-footing it down to your local polling station in a month’s time; the General Election’s already been decided.... Wait a moment! This all sounds very sinister, doesn’t it? I mean, when Labour wins with that whacking great majority, how are we going to know it wasn’t... y’know... rigged, eh? Hey, you don’t think this is all a great big conspiracy thing, do you?... AI spreads disinformation and casts doubt over votes cast?
‘
"Obviously that's damaging to democracy [...] because if there isn't that bedrock of trust that the information you consume has some basis of truth to it, then people are going to start to disbelieve everything politicians say as well."’
No! Really? I thought that ship slid down the slipway when the very first politician stood up and began “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to say....”.
PS: Of course, when that very first politician stood up he would only have addressed his audience "Gentlemen..." because there would have been no ladies present.
But they're still only forecasts at this stage. I can't believe that even AI at this stage can predict events in 4 weeks time with any great accuracy.
And dare I say it, it still might not quite be 'game over' for the Tories as anything can happen between now and 4th July that could turn them around once again, for instance one or more Labour MPs suddenly embroiled in some kind of 'scandal(s)', e.g, getting done for historical child/sexual abuse, siding with terrorists or certain criminals, fiddling expenses, some mega anti-Semitic and/or Islamophobic faux-pas, 'shy Tory factor', etc, though I seriously hope to God that none of those 'hypothetical' events actually reveal themselves.
Plus people can still be extremely fickle when it comes to politics in general.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Lencoboy, I respectfully suggest you read that article again. "The UK general election of 2024, held on July 4, resulted in a significant victory for the Labour Party." was no forecast or prediction made by ChatGPT, but a statement of fact in answer to the question "Who won the UK general election 2024?". In fact, if that article had been merely an AI prediction (which it’s supposedly programmed to be forbidden to do), it probably wouldn’t even have made the news.
Yes, it was another load of AI tosh, but so many folks believe AI tosh these days that that's what makes it a menace and potentially subversive.
Well in that case then I might just as well enter Number 10 unlawfully by the back door and take over as PM against Sunak's will.
The Lenco Party Rules OK!
(I'm only joking BTW).
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
hi
i see the problem of this Agency staff mean increased costs but also Agency fees meaning money not going on care but on Agency fees ?!?
for this you can check out The purpose of the physical activity Pyramid is to:
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Pyramid Selling Back In The News....
Anyone bought any pyramids lately?
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
NOW HEAR THIS!...
Living your life hooked up to a machine via stuff stuffed in your ears might be the new normal, but it certainly isn’t natural.
“
I’d never thought before about how our incessant use of headphones, or reluctance to hear the outside world, shields us from reality.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...with-the-world
‘
While headphone users often describe themselves as being freer, he says, “They are dependent on the machine for that to be true; they’re locked into the economic dynamic of the world and the medium they’re using. That’s a big contradiction: you’re being manipulated, but the manipulation creates a sense of freedom.”’
What, with mobile phones, smartphones, iphones, headphones.... maybe folks have all become a bit less human; a bit phoney?...
While I'm not necessarily trivialising the things mentioned in your latest post, surely there were very similar concerns about youngsters having their own record players and portable radio sets in the 60s-70s, their own Walkman cassette players in the 80s, their own TV sets with VHS machines and video game consoles in their own bedrooms in the 90s, etc, almost all of which were feared to corrupt and addle their minds.
And while all of those things mentioned above might seem relatively tame by today's general technological standards, they certainly were much derided by the older generations of the time, especially the more 'conservative' (in the broader sense starting with a small 'C', not necessarily those supporting the political party of the same title starting with a capital 'C') elements.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Some would argue that’s exactly what they did do. Maybe we’re on a spiralling descent which ends in total personal isolation from reality? I mean, in all areas of nowadays life, folks can be seen swaddling themselves in tech to protect against their perceived awfulness of the tangible world... The real world.
I agree with you 100%.
For several years now I've suspected many in society would much rather choose the easiest option; that is brush many issues under the carpet rather than attempt to deal with them (if, when and where possible, of course).
Especially certain folks who seem to incessantly revel in Britain-bashing but at the same time are still refusing point blank to visit their local polling station on 4th July.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
You’ve wandered away from the gist again, Lencoboy, but seeing as you’ve mentioned the upcoming election....
Folks are fed up with self-serving politicians who canvass their vote but, once elected, never represent them. So those folks have become disillusioned by the whole deception and no longer bother to vote.
Here’s a rather radical suggestion as an antidote; it’s not new, having been used in ancient Greece. ‘Sortition’ was how the Athenians chose their government by, roughly speaking, putting all the names of the eligible electorate into a hat and then randomly drawing out the required number of names to form the government. No politicking. No canvassing. No election malarkey! If it were to be adopted, it would have to be a similar legal obligation to Jury service, with similar exceptions, but the chosen names would be: signed up for five years, expected to put in a specified number of hours attendance, well-paid, only have to do it once in their lifetime.
Yes I realise that (BIB). I seem to have a rather bad habit of it of late.
It's not just politics that many people seem to have a habit of burying their heads in the sand over these days; they often seem unwilling to deal with many issues in general; e.g, not bothering to get things fixed or complete certain tasks, such as replacing non-working light bulbs, filling in holes in walls, etc, even when and where they do have sufficient time and/or funds to do so.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Reform School*....
Nigel Farage sets out to teach Tories a lesson, which could end up with them being given a right caning.
‘
Nigel Farage’s Reform party has overtaken the Conservatives in a poll for the first time in a national poll.’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2562311.html
Mr Farage and his reformatory mates might not stand much chance of winning an election, but watching him try is an education in populism versus politics.
*An early type of residential home for wayward boys and girls, which later became known generically as ‘Borstal’.
Of which I bet he would love to bring back in a heartbeat if (heaven forbid) he ever ends up in Number 10. Ditto for school caning.
I really hope to God that Farage and his Reform UK Party don't end up edging it into power come 4th July, or even attempt to somehow 'bribe' themselves into power.
Sadly Labour, while still generally well ahead in the opinion polls, now seem to be starting to lose momentum (now down to approximately 37% in the overall opinion poll ratings), despite no major reported slip-ups nor significant moments of controversy so far during the run-up to this forthcoming GE, unlike the Tories who appear to have been embroiled in numerous controversial moments, especially Sunak bunking off early from the D-Day 80th Anniversary commemoration ceremony in Normandy last week, which caused a big stir.
It seems that most unfavourable opinions of the Labour Party now seem to be based around Starmer being perceived as 'boring', 'uncharismatic', and allegedly having no real coherent plans so far, followed by ongoing perceptions of anti-Semitism (and still Corbynism to a certain extent) within the Party, despite Starmer allegedly attempting to thrash a lot of it out during his leadership so far, but according to the answer from the deepai.org/chat site when I queried it in the context of people still shunning the Labour Party, the Global Financial Crisis barely seems to figure now in 2024, unlike in the run-up to the 2015 GE where it still remained a prominent factor in many people's hesitancy in voting for Labour, but by the GEs of 2017 and 2019 (while still registering a tiny bit), it was largely overtaken by the anti-Semitism lark and people generally being mistrustful of Corbynite politics, coupled with the general focus on 'getting Brexit done' at the time.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Lencoboy
Of which I bet he would love to bring back in a heartbeat if (heaven forbid) he ever ends up in Number 10. Ditto for school caning.
I've just remembered re the BIB that Cameron and Co discussed that idea soon after the August 2011 riots, which incidentally occurred during the school holidays, so hardly a school discipline-related issue in that particular context.
That particular idea ended up being voted down by Parliament as a whole anyway, and was no doubt regarded as a whimsical, 'quick-fix' solution/knee-jerk response in the heat of the moment, which would have ended up treating the symptoms rather than effectively attempting to address the underlying issues at heart.
Typical populist politics at play.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
What Time Does WWIII Kick Off?...
‘
“Now, Tuesday, 18 June 2024 has the strongest planetary stimulus to trigger WW3 ...".’
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...n-33048110.amp
Oh, hang about! It was scheduled for 17:00, but it clashes with the Turkey versus Georgia Euro 24 match.... So it’s been postponed until the 29
th.....
Careful Pain, you might end up triggering people like Frank T and a couple of others, even though it's very likely a load of old pony.
Must otherwise be a fairly slow news day.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Odds & Sods....
What’s the betting that whichever party wins the General Election, it’ll be a bunch of sods, aka politicians, who are no more adept at running the country than the last inept sodding bunch who deserve to be turfed out?... What, no takers?
‘
... you'd have thought the Conservative official in charge of social media may have sensed danger before putting out an advert on party channels featuring a roulette wheel and the accompanying caption: "If you bet on Labour, you can never win."’
https://news.sky.com/story/latest-ga...ories-13155944
Have you noticed that when it comes to governments, it’s always the public who lose out, sooner or later?... Must be Sod’s Law!
I think I heard/read somewhere earlier today that that ad has now been pulled/taken down.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Pain, While I'm extremely grateful that you pointed me to that deepai.org/chat site in my thread 'Riot fears' a few weeks back, some (not all) of the answers it gives to some of my queries can sometimes be contradictory or even false.
For instance, when I typed in the question 'What happened to the EDL (English Defence League)?' (whose activities during their heyday caused me great anxiety at the time), the answer given was that they 'disbanded' in 2013. Actually they were still doing demos/protests as late as 2017 (or possibly even 2018) and according to Wikipedia, still officially remain active, despite no news reports of any demos/protests from them since around 2017.
Also, for the record, I asked the question 'Have there ever been any riots in the Staffordshire towns of Tamworth (where I live) and Burton on Trent (where my day centre is) during the postwar period?', and it replied 'Yes, in 1981, 1984, 1985 and 1991 during bouts of national disturbances at the time'. While not exactly sure about Burton (the staff at my day centre admitted they don't ever recall any riots happening in Burton during any of those periods, or ever at all during the postwar period as far as they are aware, nor does there appear to be any official info online about any), there definitely hasn't been any incidents in Tamworth that constitute full-on 'riots' during my lifetime, and I often used to read old editions of our local newspaper (the Tamworth Herald) in our local library back in the 2000s and found no reports of any such disturbances in the borough during the 80s and early 90s; at least nothing more than a few youths running amok in the town centre on occasions, which was probably also the case in Burton.
I think the local newspapers (e.g, the Tamworth Herald and the Burton Mail) sometimes used terms such like 'riot', 'terror attack', 'gang(s)', etc, in a hyperbolic fashion for sensationalist effect despite no such things (in the broadest sense of both terms) actually happening AFAIK.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Lencoboy
Pain, While I'm extremely grateful that you pointed me to that
deepai.org/chat site in my thread 'Riot fears' a few weeks back, some (not all) of the answers it gives to some of my queries can sometimes be contradictory or even false.
For instance, when I typed in the question 'What happened to the EDL (English Defence League)?' (whose activities during their heyday caused me great anxiety at the time), the answer given was that they 'disbanded' in 2013. Actually they were still doing demos/protests as late as 2017 (or possibly even 2018) and according to Wikipedia, still officially remain active, despite no news reports of any demos/protests from them since around 2017.
Also, for the record, I asked the question 'Have there ever been any riots in the Staffordshire towns of Tamworth (where I live) and Burton on Trent (where my day centre is) during the postwar period?', and it replied 'Yes, in 1981, 1984, 1985 and 1991 during bouts of national disturbances at the time'. While not exactly sure about Burton (the staff at my day centre admitted they don't ever recall any riots happening in Burton during any of those periods, or ever at all during the postwar period as far as they are aware, nor does there appear to be any official info online about any), there definitely hasn't been any incidents in Tamworth that constitute full-on 'riots' during my lifetime, and I often used to read old editions of our local newspaper (the Tamworth Herald) in our local library back in the 2000s and found no reports of any such disturbances in the borough during the 80s and early 90s; at least nothing more than a few youths running amok in the town centre on occasions, which was probably also the case in Burton.
I think the local newspapers (e.g, the Tamworth Herald and the Burton Mail) sometimes used terms such like 'riot', 'terror attack', 'gang(s)', etc, in a hyperbolic fashion for sensationalist effect despite no such things (in the broadest sense of both terms) actually happening AFAIK.
Also if those 'disturbances' that the deepai.org/chat site alleged to have happened in both Burton and Tamworth in the 80s and early 90s concurrent with national bouts of rioting truly did happen, then either they must have been kept low-key by the respective local press in each of the 2 towns, and/or those 'disturbances' had no profoundly lasting impact nor legacy in the sense that they would still be discussed several years after the original events (a la Handsworth in Birmingham, Toxteth in Merseyside, Brixton in South London, St. Pauls in Bristol, etc).
My dad also doesn't believe such 'disturbances' ever happened in neither Burton nor Tamworth either, as he believes both settlements are insignificant to both die-hard rioters and terrorists alike, with virtually next to nothing to be gained from the likes of looting, mass arson attacks nor conducting terrorist attacks in either settlement, and like I suggested in my previous post on this matter, my dad also reckons that it was probably nothing more than a few youths incidentally running amok through the town centres of both Burton and Tamworth, which was probably nothing really out of the ordinary at the time (the usual instances of ASB). He also reckoned the same probably happened in the centre of leafy Lichfield too, but also purely incidental and not necessarily connected with the true disturbances in the big cities on those particular occasions.
He also reckons that the shooting of a soldier by a lone IRA gunman on the platform of Lichfield train station in the summer of 1990 was just a one-off incident at the time, and not representative of Lichfield nor the county of Staffordshire as a whole, plus basic security in most train stations was virtually non-existent back then (especially CCTV cameras).
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Blaming The Bloke Who’s Just Been Sacked...
is the time-honoured way used by those who seek to avoid taking responsibility... But will it work the other way round?
‘
Next PM likely to inherit improved economic backdrop after UK growth revised up [...]
“This is certainly good news for whoever will be the prime minister this time next week ...”’
https://www.theguardian.com/business...wth-revised-up
Y’know, somehow I can’t see the next prime minister coming out with: “I’d just like to take this opportunity to say what a great job the last bloke, Rishi Sunak, did with the econonomy, and I’d like to thank him for all his help in making my new appointment as prime minister that much easier.”
More a case of Sunak and Co have simply 'got lucky' with this sudden alleged economic 'bounceback', despite our economy enduring a brief so-called 'recession' during the last months of 2023 and into the start of 2024, and had reportedly been in an increasingly precarious state since the last months of 2021 largely due to the post-pandemic COL crisis.
I recall Major and Co also seemingly 'got lucky' with our economy during their last 2-3 years in power, but despite that they still ended up losing to Blair and Co in 1997.
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Re: Today’s headlines .........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
The Ring Of Confidence...
or the echoing mockery of hollow words?
"Keir Starmer: ‘If you want change, you have to vote for it' ..."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/30/keir-starmer-if-you-want-change-you-have-to-vote-for-it
Many folks, perhaps even the vast majority, have no great faith in democracy anymore.
In 2016 the UK voted by referendum to leave the EU, and immediately those who had voted to remain cried ‘foul’ and demanded another referendum. Democracy was suddenly made to sound quite shameful – an unconditional yes-no referendum became conditional because those who didn’t like the result said so. What sort of folks were they that went against that democratic vote for change?...
Sir Keir Starmer, now the current Leader of the Labour Party, maybe has a shortened memory when it comes to turning a blind eye and cocking a deaf ear to democracy. During the EU referendum campaign, Mr Starmer was a Remainer, campaigning for the UK to stay as a member of the European Union. He was a prominent and influential figure in Labour’s Remain camp, arguing that quitting the EU would be too risky to contemplate (and presumably, for that reason, was dead set against holding any such referendum in the first place?). Following the referendum result - a win for democracy, surely? – Mr Starmer was one of those who voted against triggering Article 50, which would have formally begun the UK's withdrawal from the EU. He also opposed Prime Minister Theresa May's proposed Brexit deal in 2018.
Then in 2019, while the flip-flopping, mildly Eurosceptic Jeremy Corbyn was still labouring under the mistaken belief he was the Labour leader, the party’s policy on Brexit was sharply tilted towards supporting
another referendum on EU membership. Mr Starmer, as shadow Brexit secretary, played a significant role in tilting that policy and was very vociferous in shouting for a second referendum, which he hoped and expected Remain should win.
When Mr Starmer became Labour leader, he stated that Labour would would seek to renegotiate a new deal with the EU. But he also emphasised his and Labour's support for remaining in the Single Market and Customs Union (which would be Brino – Brexit in name only – and not Brexit at all) and stated that
he would push for a second referendum.
Could it be that in Sir Keir’s world you only have to accept democratic changes if they’re the ones he wants.... Funny old world, isn’t it?
The thing is, a sizeable (and indeed, gullible) proportion of the population were fooled by those wide boy charlatans Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson into believing how wonderful nearly everything might end up being for Britain once outside of the EU, coupled with a number of folks who sided more with the 'Remain' camp who simply couldn't be bothered to turn out to their local polling stations on that fateful day in June 2016 with the lazy assumption that it was a 'foregone conclusion' that 'Remain' would win, but how wrong were they?
That referendum was probably one of the most farcical political events I can remember within my own living memory and was more of a desperate attempt at saving David Cameron and the Tory govt from annihilation in the 2015 GE, despite Cameron actually being a 'Remainer' at heart, and then when the 'Brexit' vote eventually ended up winging it (albeit only just by a whisker), Cameron soon wimped out of Number 10 and subsequently left all his successors to 'face the music'!
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I bags…The Lunatics taking over the Asylum Party.:yesyes:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Exterior Paint Job Required Stripper....
Nude bloke up a ladder has brush with the law, but’s told he’s doing nothing rung before cracking on with the job.
‘
Police called after decorator seen working naked up ladder at woman’s house ...’
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-new...-seen-33191691
Of all the bare cheek, eh? I wonder where he hangs his paint pot?...
PS: When using ladders: Never be in too much of a hurry to get on the job. Always ensure erection is properly prepared; rigidly extended without wobble or bounce and set at the correct angle (you may need a helping hand). To be really safe, someone holding it steady can prevent mishaps.
PPS: I apologise for trying to put a gloss on this headline, but there’s hardly any nudes worth talking about just lately.
Good God; that bloke sounds like a right head case!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Former President Shot To Fame!...
when he was seen getting it in the ear from would-be assassin.
‘
As shots rang out, the former president dropped to the ground with his ear covered in blood and was swiftly rushed off-stage by security staff.’
https://news.sky.com/story/donald-tr...olded-13177696
Did Mr Trump let out an ear piercing cry?...
‘
What Trump shooting means for election’?... A whacking great boost for his standing, at a guess (although getting oneself shot to boost one’s popularity ratings is a decidedly risky strategy... don’t try this at home!).
Isn't this one of many men who strongly believes in Americans' full 'right to bear arms' and ends up being smacked right in the face by a bullet fired by a would-be 'protester'? Oh the irony!
Mind you, we've had 2 high-profile actual assassinations of MPs here in Blighty over recent years; Labour MP Jo Cox in June 2016 soon before the Brexit Referendum and the (former) Tory MP for Leigh-on-Sea, Essex (can't remember his name off-hand) in November 2021.
Kind of demonstrates how such 'extremism' exists across both the Left and the Right, and on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Hello, I’d Like To Buy Some Votes, Please....
How much did it cost Labour supporters to purchase the result they wanted?
‘
Labour declared more donations than all other parties combined during the general election campaign, taking more than £9.5m in total.’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg3j131327yo
Strangely... or perhaps not... of the total amount of cash chucked at all the political parties, Labour caught about 62% (£9.5m), or very close to its percentage of seats taken, and each seat cost Labour supporters...
tap-tap-tappity-tap-tap-tap... just over twenty three thousand quid... Did they get value for money? Cheap at twice the price?... The trade unions didn’t seem to think it was such a good bargain.... Maybe the buyer’s remorse kicks in later....
PS: Conservative could be had for the knock-down price of just under sixteen thousand quid each. But the most costly seats, at well over three hundred thousand quid apiece were Reform’s five. Obviously, Reform are sitting on a fortune.
PPS: Of course, these figures, like all of us nowadays, are just numbers....
Sounds like you don't have much enthusiasm for Labour, but obviously your choice, of course.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Has Google Become Enshittified?*
...
Search me! I washed my hands of the whole unpleasant Google digital manipulation experience years ago and haven’t felt the urge to visit it since.
‘
Does it really matter whether there is competition to Google’s search engine? Doctorow believes it does. He coined the memorable term “enshittification” to explain the state of big tech companies in the modern age ...’
https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-engine-broken
‘
Once, its playful motto, “Don’t be evil”, featured prominently in its code of conduct. In 2018, it was quietly downgraded.’
Yes, advertising certainly pays when you’ve entered the evil entity business and you’re intent on world domination.... Cue Toccata and Fugue in D minor, overlaid with mocking, echoing AI-synthesised, MWHA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!...
*Look it up on DuckDuckGo.
That's just reminded me; on a different but similar note (in terms of 'online' stuff), wasn't there also a big hoo-ha concerning Facebook and Cambridge Analytica back in 2018?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Arson Attacks In Paris!...
Police urgently want to speak to several persons dressed as Olympic athletes and seen carrying flaming torches...
... And that's probably already won the world record for the fastest-travelled joke of all time.
There's always one or two 'spoil-sports' intent on disrupting high profile events like this.
Probably would have also happened in Britain had these Olympics been held here, especially by certain individuals with a bee in their bonnet about certain issues.
IIRC, I think London 2012 had a couple of episodes of attempted disruption, but thankfully nothing mega serious.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Unless that was an intended pun, Lencoboy, you don’t really get humour, do you?
PS: If you have a “bee” in your bonnet “about certain issues” and want to bring those certain issues to the widest possible public attention, then you pick high-profile events to disrupt. There’s not going to be much point in disrupting, say, Tamworth’s current Athelstan 1100 celebratory festival (except, of course, when your beef concerns the Anglo-Saxon monarchy).
You're correct, it's largely insignificant compared to major global events like the Olympics. Nor would the mainstream media outlets likely be that interested if anyone attempted to sabotage said event (especially as it's not in a major city), unless it was something mega 'out of the ordinary', of course.
Also I'm not aware of any current major controversies surrounding the Anglo-Saxon monarchy, that could potentially be a flashpoint for 'aggro'?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
What-ho, Old Bean!...
Boffin believes being full of beans is an antidote to depression... broadly speaking.
‘
“The broad bean could do so much good for people in this country if they could be persuaded to eat it ...”’
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...arch-scientist
Yes indeed! I suggest you try them with some fried liver, washed down with a nice Chianti...
ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss.... so delicious!
Fly fly fly Agent Starling, fly fly fly. Anthony Hopkins made that role all his own, they could never do a remake.
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I've noticed the Tories seem to have gone quiet amid the disorder currently sweeping certain parts of England pertaining to tragic events in Southport earlier this week, while Reform UK seem to be exploiting it all to the max while at the same time already having digs at the new (Labour) govt over it all, despite them only having assumed office still less than a month ago.
In stark contrast to August 2011 when Cameron and Co were constantly referring to said riots back then as 'highly symbolic of Broken Britain', and of course Labour (in opposition) also roundly condemned said disturbances at the time.
I reckon the Tories are now 'running scared' over all of this current 'riot' business.
But then again, the Tories have seemingly been keeping relatively low-key anyway since their recent election defeat to Labour, while Farage and Co have been trying to big themselves up all the more.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
The Ugly Face Of ID-Ology....
Are we all to be suspects now, in the eyes of the law?
‘
PM accused of ignoring civil rights and aping autocracies as he proposes new powers after far-right unrest ...’
https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...mpaigners-warn
Hold it! There’s a paradoxical picture developing here. The far-right is what fascism’s all about, right? And fascism is infamous for its use of ad hoc state police powers to keep the population under its iron heel?... To pull this into sharp focus, here’s a question I asked the Fount of all Knowledge (heavily disguised as AI https://deepai.org/chat to protect its anonymity)....
Could the widespread use of facial recognition by a country's police force be seen as a step towards fascism?
“Yes, widespread use of facial recognition by a police force can be seen as a step towards fascism, as it involves increased surveillance, loss of privacy, and potential misuse of power, all of which can undermine democratic freedoms and civil liberties.”
Talk about irony!
Mind you, some of those rioting loons have already contradicted themselves, not only by turning up at the disturbances tooled up with offensive weapons themselves, but a few in Sunderland last night actually brought their little kids along with them while partaking in their looting sprees.
Shows they really care about fighting the knife crime epidemic and keeping children safe? NOT!:mad:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Part of me surmises that these current events could very well partly be a sizeable proportion of the far-Righters (fairly latently) chucking their toys out the pram over Starmer and Co winning the recent GE, and not their beloved Reform UK, or even the Tories at a push; though of course these disturbances would have no doubt still happened no matter who was in power right now.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
There are more things in heaven and earth, Lencoboy, than are dreamt of in your philosophy... or worst nightmare.
But this is totally unprecedented, and I'm sure there's something far more sinister at play deep down.
I think it no longer just protests about immigrants/asylum seekers; it now seems to me like a national act of rebellion against authority in general and 'sticking it to the man'!
All of this has been steadily brewing up for several years now, and events in Southport at the beginning of last week just happened to be the ultimate spark.
I bet some of the very same oiks who willfully defied the lockdown rules by gathering on beaches and attending raves during the early summer of 2020 are among those involved in the current disturbances.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pain
Not so, Lencoboy; our history is full of riotous assemblies. Here are a just a few examples:-
The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 led by Wat Tyler (obviously a far-right nutcase with a name like that – probably not his real name, eh?), who got himself killed by law officers during a demonstation in London against the newly-instigated Poll Tax.
The English Civil War (1642 - 1651). Royalists and Parliamentarians (otherwise known as Roundheads – a right bunch of shaven-headed hardcases, without doubt) having a series of deadly serious rucks up and down England, which just so happened to have been fuelled by an overwhelming sense of injustice against authority vested in the establishment. Charles I lost his head, but the ringleader, that Cromwell bloke, got his comeuppance – he was hung, drawn and quartered, and had his head stuck on a spike (some probably said simple hanging was too good for him, I’ll bet!).
The Gordon Riots of 1780. That old malarkey of Protestants versus Catholics rearing its ugly head (religion – pffft! – who needs it, eh?). Fancy bringing in laws to allow folks equal rights. I dunno, you give some oiks an inch and they’ll take a mile... every time!
St Peter’s Field, Manchester 1819 (infamously aka The Peterloo Massacre). Around 60,000 folks having a demo calling for a right to vote for parliamentary representation and an end to one-sided authoritarianism, aka oppression (there’s a theme developing here, have you noticed?). But the establishment wasn’t taking any of their sh... shenanigans! A highly mobile rapid reaction force of law officers using cutting-edge technology was deployed (in modern parlance).... The sabre-armed, horse-mounted cavalary charged into the crowd and sliced over four hundred protesters to shreds. Many were killed outright, many died of their injuries later, the rest were maimed or scarred for life.
The Chartist Uprisings (1838 – 1857). A festering series of very unpleasant confrontations between chavvy working-class folks and authority, apparently. Over what? I hear you ask. Poor working conditions, parliamentary exclusivity (i.e., no real representation at all for ordinary oiks) and an oppressive authority that just seemed to be there to get in their faces every working day (and every day was a working day for most).
I know, I know; this is all ancient history. How about something more modern?...
The Poll Tax Riots of 1990... “Wat”! Again? No, different load of argey-bargey but same cause as six hundred-odd years previously – folks feeling they’re being unfairly imposed upon by a faceless bureaucracy hiding behind an authority that is there, plain as a threatening pikestaff, to serve others... but not them.
Then there are all those other fracases(?), too numerous to mention, where the root cause seems less specific, less understandable. But the violence, destruction and intimidation is just as wilful and horrifying. But in all instances, ever, there would have been, undoubtedly, many folks who were bewildered, angered and terrified by what was going on around them.
If you need a single word reason for why ordinary folks can be flipped into full riotous assembly-thinking, it must be “resentment”, which, although the eventual trigger may be something spontaneous and even totally unrelated, builds up over a very long time.
'Twas ever thus' in the basic sense then?