Today’s headlines .........

[Fishmanpa]

I seriously don't mean to be disgusting and purely racist FMP. I was merely pointing out that persons of all ethnicities and political angles do wrong things and it's not just Blacks, people with Left-leaning political views, etc, who have lawless tendencies.

I know 100% you don't mean that LBoy... It's those that take the initials of Black Lives Matter and turn them into something racist and nasty that I'm referring to. You of all people, being one that looks at past social uprisings and tendencies, know that blacks have been targeted and treated differently due to their race. It's been that way since the formation of the United States as well as in Europe and other nations. Today, we're seeing people of Asian decent being targeted due to the rhetoric of an ex American president who labeled COVID the 'China Virus'. Being a Jew married to a Latina, I've personally experienced the racism churned up in the last 4+ years. I'm white but if you knew my last name, it would bring negative connotations and prejudice. As I said, I 'personally' experienced it! Imagine being in the grocery store with your wife and hearing people say under their breath but just loud enough to hear, "Can't wait till they build the wall" or "Go back to Mexico" (My wife is from Ecuador, S America) or "Speak 'Merican" when I share a few words in Spanish from some redneck wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat!

These are many of the same individuals that are anti-mask and anti-vax and just truly hateful ignorant individuals. Take a look at the comments on the Fox news website and you'll see the vitriol, hate and divide that capitulates itself here in the US. You posted about looking at past social uprisings and cultural unrest and one need look no further than the US today! So I do hear you when you say it troubles you and occupies your thoughts. It's done the same to me as I've personally experienced it and still do to this day. I have absolutely ZERO tolerance for that train of thought. That same demographic is the crux of the anti vax movement and one only need peruse social media to see videos and comments that back up what I'm saying.

That said, as much as it gets my panties in a wrinkle, I do my best to avoid it and try my very best to make our life as positive and loving as possible for myself and my family and friends.

Yes, people of all ethnic backgrounds can be and are racist, but white right wing 'Americans' take it to another level. I have friends and family members from different ethnic, cultural and sexual orientation backgrounds but I can assure you I never refer to them as Black, Hispanic, Asian, Gay, Lesbian, Trans etc... They're just my friends. When one differentiates and labels them? One has has to question the heart involved.

FMP

[MyNameIsTerry]

Wow! That's amazing. So who was the big winner? The Conservative party?
I gotta follow your politics more closely. For one I think they can be a harbinger of things to come here but also because they're so colorful! I mean our Congress got nothing in your Parliament when they get going!😄

Yes, the Tories made another breakthrough with Hartlepool. Overall they gained a lot of new councillors whilst Labour lost a ton.

Labour have been in a mess for years. Some of their MPs appeal to some in the cities or in the south but put people off elsewhere. I don't believe Starmer is the one to change things but then much of the problem is the party members no longer align with the traditional voters. He's a bit meh anyway and an ideal politician I.e. his beliefs change with winds.

I suspect a lot are suspicious of Starmer and whether he would push to rejoin the EU once in government. He did well to say let's move on but this guy does that with all problems so as to distance himself and the role he has played.

Many of us here joke our younger generations should visit Parliament to learn how not to behave. Employers don't put up with it.

I would have thought your politicians make good viewing and make ours look a bit stuffy?

[Lencoboy]

Yes, the Tories made another breakthrough with Hartlepool. Overall they gained a lot of new councillors whilst Labour lost a ton.

Labour have been in a mess for years. Some of their MPs appeal to some in the cities or in the south but put people off elsewhere. I don't believe Starmer is the one to change things but then much of the problem is the party members no longer align with the traditional voters. He's a bit meh anyway and an ideal politician I.e. his beliefs change with winds.

I suspect a lot are suspicious of Starmer and whether he would push to rejoin the EU once in government. He did well to say let's move on but this guy does that with all problems so as to distance himself and the role he has played.

Many of us here joke our younger generations should visit Parliament to learn how not to behave. Employers don't put up with it.

I would have thought your politicians make good viewing and make ours look a bit stuffy?

I reckon the only real solution is that the Labour party change their name, and weed out the 'dead wood' of MPs in the party who no longer carry any weight with the 'real' needs of the voters.

I think Jezzer and the anti-Semitism debacle, coupled with the spectre of Brexit, has been the final straw for doing irreparable damage to the party as we know it, plus many people today seem to consider the traditional ideologies of the party 'outmoded'.

I could be talking a load of crap of course!

[Lencoboy]

Some Labour leaders…. a review.

Warning! This post contains possibly outdated views which some readers may find upsetting.

Mr Michael Foot was the last Old Labour trouper – a man of the people whose donkey jacket was admired by even the Queen Mother. In a woeful error of miscasting, his part was later given to Neil Kinnock – a comic actor who blew in the breeze and pratfell in the sea once too often. When Parliament (Sod This For A Game of Soldiers) became something of a John Major flop under Conservative direction, there was still a chance for Labour to remain true to the script, with John Smith all-too-briefly shining as a sincere Mr Good-Guy. Following Mr Smith’s lamented and untimely demise, irascible understudy Robin Cook seemed poised to take over.

But the plot took a bewildering turn. Enter Anthony Blair stage left…. Only he didn’t; he sprang up unannounced right in front of everyone through a concealed trapdoor, helped by some smoke and mirrors in the guise of New Labour…. The genie was out of the bottle, granting wishes and soundbites left, right and centre as if they were going out of fashion. “He’s right behind you!” yelled those shocked socialists at the rest of the cast. But - credit where credit’s due - there was some convincing acting for a while as Mr Blair dazzled all with his insincere, disarming grin and ad-libbed evermore preposterous lines – words of massive disingenuity.

Eventually, after a very long final act during which Mr Blair refused to leave the stage several times, the chorus sang I Dream Of Genie With The Dark Brown Glare: the cue for Gordon Brown, who’d been waiting in the wings for so long, to stroll on stage and be mistaken for the caretaker. The audience didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So it did nothing other than continue to wait expectantly for someone credible to be given the role of Labour leader…………. We’re still waiting.

And Gordon Brown still continues to get blamed for the GFC even to this very day!

What still really baffles me is while Blair in turn still continues to get it in the neck over the second Iraq war in 2003, no one seems to care about Major and his contribution to giving the first Iraq war in late 1990-early 1991 the go-ahead, soon after entering Number 10!

[spectrum123]

And Gordon Brown still continues to get blamed for the GFC even to this very day!

What still really baffles me is while Blair in turn still continues to get it in the neck over the second Iraq war in 2003, no one seems to care about Major and his contribution to giving the first Iraq war in late 1990-early 1991 the go-ahead, soon after entering Number 10!

The first Iraq war was due to Saddam invading a sovereign nation that was allied to the West. Even the UN back action to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The second Iraq war we made up an excuse to invade Iraq itself, this wasn't backed by the UN.

[MyNameIsTerry]

And Gordon Brown still continues to get blamed for the GFC even to this very day!

What still really baffles me is while Blair in turn still continues to get it in the neck over the second Iraq war in 2003, no one seems to care about Major and his contribution to giving the first Iraq war in late 1990-early 1991 the go-ahead, soon after entering Number 10!

Whenever I see Brown criticised it's about selling off the gold. Same as Cable and Royal Mail. Hancock will be the same with his emergency tender relaxation, which were needed, but sadly were abused.

With Blair you need to remember, as well as what Spectrum explained, his actions cost the lives of UK citizens. That won't easily be forgotten. Also you will find the further left you go from Blair the more opposed they are as it's not just a right wing thing.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Some Labour leaders…. a review.

Warning! This post contains possibly outdated views which some readers may find upsetting.

Mr Michael Foot was the last Old Labour trouper – a man of the people whose donkey jacket was admired by even the Queen Mother. In a woeful error of miscasting, his part was later given to Neil Kinnock – a comic actor who blew in the breeze and pratfell in the sea once too often. When Parliament (Sod This For A Game of Soldiers) became something of a John Major flop under Conservative direction, there was still a chance for Labour to remain true to the script, with John Smith all-too-briefly shining as a sincere Mr Good-Guy. Following Mr Smith’s lamented and untimely demise, irascible understudy Robin Cook seemed poised to take over.

But the plot took a bewildering turn. Enter Anthony Blair stage left…. Only he didn’t; he sprang up unannounced right in front of everyone through a concealed trapdoor, helped by some smoke and mirrors in the guise of New Labour…. The genie was out of the bottle, granting wishes and soundbites left, right and centre as if they were going out of fashion. “He’s right behind you!” yelled those shocked socialists at the rest of the cast. But - credit where credit’s due - there was some convincing acting for a while as Mr Blair dazzled all with his insincere, disarming grin and ad-libbed evermore preposterous lines – words of massive disingenuity.

Eventually, after a very long final act during which Mr Blair refused to leave the stage several times, the chorus sang I Dream Of Genie With The Dark Brown Glare: the cue for Gordon Brown, who’d been waiting in the wings for so long, to stroll on stage and be mistaken for the caretaker. The audience didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So it did nothing other than continue to wait expectantly for someone credible to be given the role of Labour leader…………. We’re still waiting.

Quite ironic that Starmer is being told to watch his back at the moment because of his deputy. But he's not going to last anyway with members unhappy, voters unhappy, etc.

Who will they put in next? With such a gulf between current members and their traditional base it's unlikely going to change. Might as well seal it and put Lammy in

Without splitting the party I have no idea how they can solve it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

“'Eccentric loner', conspiracy theorist and alpaca keeper who brought county court case against Boris Johnson for 'defaming her' - as No10 reveals it has finally managed to scrub the £535 debt”

This report is in The Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9575899/Pictured-Eccentric-loner-brought-county-court-case-against-Boris-Johnson-defaming-her.html It’s also covered in other newspapers.

I wonder what that repeated defamation was? An intriguing case….

She reminds me of the plight of Rodney Trotter upon meeting Blossom:

[Lencoboy]

BBC Brought To Book Over Bashir…. Finally the BBC is getting its comeuppance, hopefully not just about that dreadful piece of manipulative programming, but maybe also the other disingenuous and biased stuff it’s been carrying forever.

Great British Railways Renationalisation…. Well, maybe not. But it’s the closest any political party has come to such a policy since Old Labour’s Clause IV was ignominiously chucked on the dung heap by New Labour. Strange, though, that it’s the Conservatives half-heartedly resurrecting a concept they’ve always condemned.

Cecil Rhodes Statue Still Stands…. for what? Philanthropic benefactor of Oxford’s Oriel College or historic white supremacist?

Most ironic that the Tories now seem to be discussing practices more akin to those of 'old Labour'.

Little wonder so many voters feel confused these days as they are often now virtually unable to differentiate between the two parties.

[NoraB]

Funny old world, isn’t it? (as the late Michael Angelis used to say, sardonically).

I used to like him in The Liver Birds..