The Cloven Hoof

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This topic contains 915 replies, has 42 voices, and was last updated by  Anonymous 8 years, 5 months ago.

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  • #39367
    Anonymous @

    @lisa thank you for the links -on all 🙂

    @scaryb yes, I know about the elections. We shall see! The gale force winds sound awful. We have them too, but we don’t have nail-biting cold. So a swappo?

    Or send it all to the moon instead? Or another dimension?

    #39369
    Anonymous @

    @lisa the problem that text book writers have (and I’m one of them) is that whilst students go to their tablet for the textbook they still pay (or the school does) pretty much the same money for each ‘text’ minus 10%.

    If not, it’s free for the county/school and the writers make little money and the texts get worse or are easily outdated.

    We have a Nat Curric now which means it’s easier to use their material -or the writers who put together that material than trying to find quite difficult concepts on the ‘net -often lacking the authentic touch!.

    #39370
    lisa @lisa

    @Purofilion I still volunteer in my old school where I used to teach. Its 2 mornings
    a week and mostly I work with kids in small groups off of tablets. So these
    kids are engaging so much better surfing around rather than following the standard
    textbooks. Its really having a positive impact plus they learn. But teachers are
    using the net to supplement the standard curriculum and they’ve seen some impressive
    results. There are lots of ways to go. I personally like the sites that are
    offered from art and science museums. But everyone seems happy with the results.

    #39371
    Arbutus @arbutus

    @scaryb   Yeah, yeah, we’re working on getting it sorted. In fact, some pundits here are following your election with close interest, because of the strong possibility of a minority result in our own election in the fall. Last time an attempt was made at a coalition here, the screams of outrage you would not have believed. “It’s not democratic! They weren’t elected!” and so on. Regardless of those of us who explained, it is democratic in almost every other parliamentary democracy in the world, and they were in fact elected. Sigh. If more people read a news website from somewhere other than Canada, they might be a little more informed. There’s no excuse for ignorance anymore, we have the internet now. Oh, wait…

    Case in point, @lisa. I love reading the Atlantic, great journalism, tending to the left but not hardcore. I should add, having been kicking around for a long time, I get a massive deja vu hit whenever I see mention of “California Governor Jerry Brown” in the news! It’s nice that some jurisdictions are moving in the right direction, ironic that it takes a blast from the past to get it done.

    #39372
    Arbutus @arbutus

    @purofilion     Oh, absolutely, we travel a lot, weekend getaways and bigger trips as well. I should clarify that we are no longer what you would call “struggling”. It’s just that, back in the days when we should have been saving up for the all-important down payment, we were paying back the massive student loan. Also during that same period, property values in our lovely city absolutely shot through the roof. It’s insane what you pay for real estate here now. So we rent, along with about half the our fellow citizens. Some day, when the young Arbutus is a fully-grown tree and out on his own in the forest, we will likely downsize from our rented house into a purchased condo. Meanwhile, we live in a fabulous urban neighbourhood and enjoy a pretty nice life on the whole. No real complaints, only to point out the insanity of what Americans have to pay for a quality advanced education. Frankly, it’s not a path that any other country should be moving along.

    #39374
    lisa @lisa

    @arbutus Jerry is the definition of a really talented politician and we are
    so lucky to have him. He won re-election overwhelmingly and I believe we would
    keep him perpetually in that job if we could. He has a excellent Lt. Governor
    in Gavin Newsome and I think he will easily be elected when its time in a few years.
    We all know that he is aiming for that job.
    I feel lucky to live in 1 of the states where they have open mindedness and
    fairness and common sense about how they run government. They haven’t tried to
    cut services to the neediest and they try to keep education as affordable as they
    can and etc. and so on. Now if we could just get the drought situation turned around
    We have begun water rationing here. I even put a bucket in the shower and a bin at the
    rain gutter! I’ve got a big gardening bug and I know that I have a struggle to look
    forward to with watering some of this garden. That part is very sad for me! 🙁

    #39379
    Anonymous @

    @lisa

    nup, you can’t beat a secondary styled textbook -by that I mean one with the facts and primary sources -I don’t mean necessarily ‘old’ ones, but I do mean actual books. That’s my absolute belief: I understand tablets and computers as tools but for more than 30 mins a day in the classroom, no way, uh uh!

    And that’s my opinion only -I’m not being difficult, just read some studies about children and what they pick up from a book rather than a screen.

    Also, hey to the text book writers! The stuff on the internet which children often use,  are not always authored by people with a decent education and credentials to prove their particular theories; anyone can have a say: look at me right now!

    Still, there’s a lot to be said about computers -all the things I’ve read and learned in the past 18 months on this site! The incredible newspapers I can access from the bedroom instead of finding the dimes to purchase the last copy of the Financial Review…..so maybe I can change my mind. maybe 🙂 I shouldn’t be so “nup” and “nope”. I’m like my dad that way.

    @arbutus I’m glad you have a good life -and the knowledge that you can and do enjoy a good lifestyle is fantastic.

    I was thinking -after looking at the ridiculous bills -utilities and mortgage, that there really isn’t much left after that; particularly as I’ve reduced my work load due to illness. And children always need things…but still, he’s particularly good about those things that children of 13 claim they need. He’s “no I don’t need a cell phone and I don’t need Nike shoes.”

    The thing that gives me some happiness but worries my friends and their kids is that our boy will inherit this house -small and cottagey as it is, it will be something: never mind education but an ordinary 3 bedroom house in a suburb 30 mins from the city centre is about $850 -900K. I don’t think ours is worth anything like that but it has a roof and floors and running water. I’m bloomin’ grateful. Lucky I suppose, but we’re still paying for it for an awful long time.

    I was talking to some contractors: boutique holders (on my walk -nothing I spend money on) but also the curtain guy (who did put some curtains for me and don’t ask about the cost!) and all sorts of ppl in the community who think that their jobs are in jeopardy: the curtain fellow said “no way, in 5 yrs, custom made curtains won’t be happenin’ -too costly, they want things from C___ and  V___”. meanwhile he holidays in the Bahamas and pays himself as an employee so, teacher and lecturer -I’m grumbling. What education has he had? None!

    But still, it’s a valuable, honest job that he does and those particular jobs are gradually being suckered up by conglomerates.

    @lisa you have Walmart -other than that, what else is there that’s a conglomerate, other than target, Maccas and what is your large gardening/hardware store? Ours is a Bunnings -as a result, all the small mom and pop hardware shops and gardening ’boutiques’ went out of business 3 or more yrs ago. Then there’s the small takeaway restaurants: the little curry houses where you get a meal for under $8.

    OK, décor was shabby but the food was awesome. Now, it’s Miss India for $45 for two in every neighbourhood and don’t get me started on the equivalent to your Taco Bell and Baskin and Robbins: 2 containers of icecream? $45!! It’s why I cook from scratch: stocks, icecream, sorbet and cakes. But God does it take time (and I get fat; such a bonus!)

    Well, that’s ramble. Never underestimate the quality of a good one!

    #39380
    ScaryB @scaryb

    Just spent far too much time in the pub for the middle of the week, but such a joy to catch up with everyone’s recent contributions. Thank you all so much; I’ve missed being in here recently, some great conversations and memories shared.  So many places and ages and experiences and yet we come together happily in this little corner of the cyberverse. Thanks to a crazy 50 year old TV show. Wasn’t like this in my young day, haha!

    Thanks to @tenthdoctorftw (I liked your comment about the first series of AG Who being “British” whereas the later ones seem more international), @lisa (thanks for the links 🙂 ) @purofilion (please keep rambling on!), @arbutus @bluesqueakpip @ichabod @barbaralefty (thanks for your post, and completely seconded) @craig, in particular, and apologies if I’ve missed anyone out! (And thinking about absent friends @phaseshift @wolfweed and @juniperfish – hope RL will let you come back and haunt these boards again soon, we miss you)

    @pedant – just saying – for someone who cultivates such a snarky persona, you have a very soft underbelly! Your “ghosts” video really got me – so beautiful. Thank you for sharing, and hope things get better for you soon. It’s a cliche about time making it better, or at least bearable, but it does, albeit slowly. You’re wrong about the thing you keep for years “in case it comes in useful” though – yes you keep it all that time, and then chuck it out. Give it a couple of weeks and you’ll suddenly be doing something and thinking – if only I had a… Doh! (But it only happens once it’s gone! 🙂 )

    Cheers everyone.

    #39383
    JimTheFish @jimthefish
    Time Lord

    @scaryb — good to see you back in the ‘verse, to coin a Firefly-ism…. Yes, this election’s going to be a doozy, what with all the squealing about the rise of the SNP. All that love-bombing and ‘family of nations’ pish doesn’t seem to be quite so funny or heartfelt now apparently….

    #39409
    ScaryB @scaryb

    Thanks @jimthefish

    All that love-bombing and ‘family of nations’ pish doesn’t seem to be quite so funny or heartfelt now apparently…

    Quite agree, but at least there’s an awareness that there’s a population at the north end of the UK. Poor Wales hardly merits a mention and NI gets ignored completely!  Good debate last night, did you catch it?  Female “new guard” seems to have stirred it up, male “old guard” trotting out the same old same old. And Farage looked in need of some (far) Right Guard!

    😀

    #39410
    JimTheFish @jimthefish
    Time Lord

    @scaryb — did indeed watch it. Farage, same scumbag as usual. I’m hoping that that bollocks about ‘foreign AIDS-sufferers’ loses him a lot more of his dwindling support. I’m bemused by the ‘no clear winner’ narrative being pushed today as Sturgeon kicked ass last night and was the clear winner. I’m guessing they’re very keen to keep her name out of the headlines. If nothing else, it will have bolstered the SNP even further north of the border, if such a thing is possible.

    #39652
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

    If you are a UK citizen and have not yet registered to vote, or updated your details, Christopher Eccleston would like to remind you that you’ve got until midnight tonight (20th April) to register online.

    Otherwise the rest of us will blame you for the farting aliens in Number 10. Okay? 😉

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by  Craig. Reason: Fixed link. Because everyone should register to vote
    #39663
    Anonymous @

    @bluesqueakpip

    Otherwise the rest of us will blame you for the farting aliens in Number 10. Okay? 😉

    There already is a farting alien in the Government. If Eric Pickles isn’t from Raxacoricofallapatorius, I’ll eat my hat 😉

     

    Yes folks, it’s very important that we vote but at the moment there are more pressing issues. David Cameron was recently quoted in the Sunday Times as saying “I’m hugely enthused…There’s not just a tiger, there’s a couple of elephants, a lion and a yeti in the tank. This is a very energetic campaign.”

    It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be dangerous and some of us you might not return but there’s only a few weeks left to rescue @scaryb from the clutches of this madman 😉

    #39664
    stevethewhistle @steve-thorp

    @fatmaninabox

    Surely, lookin at the waxen faces of Cameron-Clegg, th Autons hav lredy taken ovr te government,

    Also, I am not sure that Monsieur Farage looks human.

    #39665
    stevethewhistle @steve-thorp

    PS sorry about typos in my last posting, the keyboard on my laptop seems to be getting eratic.

    #39667
    Mudlark @mudlark

    @steve-thorp

    I am not sure that Monsieur Farage looks human

    Well, according to a headline in today’s Independent, Farage wants to stop the BBC from producing programmes such as Doctor Who (UKIP frowns on all that extreme leftist propaganda, you know).  So obviously he is the worst kind of alien.    EXTERMINATE!

    #39668
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

    @mudlark

    Farage wants to stop the BBC from producing programmes such as Doctor Who

    So – we should expect a Dalek eyestalk to come out of his forehead at any moment?

    Right, so that’s Eric Pickles from Raxacoricofallapatorius, Farage is a Dalek zombie and David Cameron and Nick Clegg are the Autons. I reckon there’s a fair chance John Prescott is a Sontaran in disguise, but in the interests of balance (we’ve had all the other UK-wide party leaders), can anyone suggest which alien Ed Miliband is?

    🙂

    #39669
    stevethewhistle @steve-thorp

    <h2 class=”user-nicename”>@bluesqueakpip</h2>
    <h2 class=”user-nicename”></h2>
    <h2 class=”user-nicename”>and others</h2>
     

    I don’t think that we have mentioned Natalie Bnnett, leader of the Greens yet. Sureely she must be a Silurian. Ed Milliband could be a Cyberman.

     

    🙂

    #39670
    Anonymous @

    @steve-thorp

    Ed Milliband, despite being the Labour leader, had always seemed too subservient to me so I was think he’s more like an Ood that’s had his tentacles and front-brain* removed 😉

    Btw, welcome back. We’ve not ‘seen’ you for a while.

    * was it the front-brain or hind-brain that was replaced with their translator unit?

    #39677
    janetteB @janetteb

    I tried to think of a Who monster equivalent for our lame “leader” but I don’t think Who BG or AG has yet conceived any monster that horrific. Utterly evil, narcissistic and completely stupid doesn’t really work to well in fiction. The “monsters usually require some intelligence otherwise they are not a threat.

    As for Ed I was going to suggest something likely to be controlled or at least manipulated so Ood works. Let’s hope that Ed can keep hold of his brain.

    Cheers

    Janette

     

    #39701
    Anonymous @

    @purofilion

    good to see you on the boards. How is the landscaping going?

    Thanks, it’s only a fleeting visit though. The course is going great (it’s a Horticulture course btw, landscaping is just a tiny part of it) and in 10 weeks I will, hopefully, have a Diploma in Horticulture.

    What a difference a couple of weeks makes. A month ago the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham (where I’m studying) were looking drab and dreary but we returned after the Easter break to fine an explosion of colour. Butterflies are fluttering and the bees are buzzing.

    We’re currently renovating the pond so that’s looking pretty bare at the moment but the pond at Winterbourne Gardens (our sister site which is also where I’m doing some voluntary work) is teeming with tadpoles.

    The only downside is a particularly nasty smell caused by our Skunk Cabbage which does actually smell like skunk – and I don’t mean the animal 😉

    We’ve heard, in Oz, of some serious weather conditions in the UK?

    Yes, it’s been awful! A very bright, hot object has appeared in the sky and we’re not sure what to make of it. It seems benign enough but it’s appearance has caused some people to throw rocks at it, hoping to scare it off 🙂

    #39820
    PhaseShift @phaseshift
    Time Lord

    Gosh – decision time this Thursday. General Election time.

    It really has been rubbish hasn’t it? No discussion of substantive issues just lots of “Vote for me, I’m not him”. No confirmation of whether the parties will continue to support UNIT and the valuable work it does. No discussion about Immigration Policy as it applies to wandering Time Travellers. Not even an indication of who is the favourite Doctor of the main party leaders. How is a perfectly sane Doctor Who fan expected to make a choice?

    I reckon David Cameron would share a natural affinity with six. Red faced when he bellows and shouts down his opponents. A Natural bully.

    Nick Clegg in that typical Lib Dem love of lost causes would champion eight.

    Ed Milliband? As he looks like a complete geek and is keen not to alienate anyone I reckon he could pull the “splendid chaps, all of them” line out of his hat.

    Natalie Bennett? Touchy feely no 10 for sure.

    Nigel Farage? While labelling the entire show a left wing conspiracy I think he’d be drawn to no 3.

    Nichola Sturgeon? Any of the Scottish ones, obviously.

    #39822
    ichabod @ichabod

    I love it that a surprising number of our wandering Doctors have been played by Scottish actors (albeit only one with his native accent on display); it reminds me of their intrepid forebears who left their homeland as trained engineers carrying the science of the Industrial Revolution with them.  One that comes at once to mind is the fellow who went to Russia to advise — Catherine the Great, I think, although his name escapes me.  I hope I’ve got that right — if I go look in Wikipedia, I lose my text here, so I’ll just fly blind and hope I’m not too wide of the mark.  Anyway, them — passing through, helping out (making more money than they could make at home, but, well, Scots — ).

    #39832
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

    @ichabod

    ::cough:: Sylvester McCoy ::cough::

    Or don’t you recognise Dunoon as part of Scotland? 😉

    #39836
    ichabod @ichabod

    @bluesqueakpip   Did they let McCoy keep his accent?  You know, it’s a long time since I’ve seen one of his episodes, and I can’t remember the voice, but of course Dunoon qualifies!  Whereabouts in Scotland is it?  If I ever knew, I’ve forgotten . . .

    #39841
    Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip

    @ichabod – yes, they let him keep the accent. 😉

    Dunoon is in the Scottish Highlands (just) – it’s in Argyll, on the Highlands side of the Firth of Clyde. They hold the Cowal Games there.

    #39939
    JimTheFish @jimthefish
    Time Lord

    And just to echo@Craig — do go out and vote if you haven’t done so already. Myself, I will be spending this evening toasting every SNP win with a double Laphroaig — if the polls are remotely accurate, I may be dead in the morning…. 🙂

    @bluesqueakpip — grew up not a hop, skip and a jump from Dunoon and I’m not sure I’d describe it as being in the Highlands. I think it probably just about qualifies as still being in the Lowlands myself….

    @phaseshift

    Cameron is certainly Doc 6. Blustering. Blowhard. Annoying.

    Miliband is Troughton, I suspect. Bumbling but hopefully going to pull victory from the jaws of defeat tonight.

    Clegg certainly does seem a bit 8 but I think I’d go for him having the ineffectualness of 5.

    Leanne Wood — smiley but with good bit of moralistic fire in there. I’d go for her being 11, or possibly even 9.

    Natalie Bennett — yeah, touchy feely, probably 10.

    Farage — I’m not even going to dignify him with a Doctor. He’s Hepesh from the Curse of Peladon.

    Sturgeon — could be any of the Scottish docs but I think I’d probably put her as McCoy if I had to choose. She’s not grumpy enough to be Capaldi.

    #39940
    janetteB @janetteb

    Good luck all Brits. I am watching with interest and fingers and toes crossed.

    Cheers

    Janette

    #39945
    Craig @craig
    Emperor

    @jimthefish I envy you and that peaty goodness. I hope you enjoy tonight, I’ll be staying up. Not having a vote in Scotland I have just had to hold my nose and vote for Labour (marginal seat so a vote for Greens could let in Lib Dems who I have fallen out of favour with). I did try to persuade everyone I know in Scotland to vote SNP though.

    #39956
    Anonymous @

    @craig

    my annoyance with Brit voters is registered in On the Sofa. Honestly. More conservatives? Is this a regression? A time dimensional back lash of sorts  🙁

    I thought by now we’d learnt our lesson about conservative parties and the shady politics which accompany them. I suppose that’s the feature of democracy: you get what you vote for and all hail to that!

    Still crossing fingers…..but I think Cameron aint packing.

    @jimthefish Are you still alive and kicking after all that scotch, and the result? 🙂

    #39966
    janetteB @janetteb

    Equally as annoyed as @purofilion. Just felt depressed when I saw the headlines. What is wrong with the world?

    Cheers

    Janette

    #39967
    Anonymous @

    @purofilion @janetteb

    Yes, it’s quite disappointing. Poor people voting for rich people so that the rich people can make the poor people poorer.

    I’m trying to stay optimistic. Exit polls aren’t always right and although the night is young (technically it’s day now) so far Labour have won 126 seats to Tories 101.

    #39969
    Anonymous @

    @fatmaninabox fingers crossed!!

     

    #39970
    janetteB @janetteb

    The news is getting even more depressing. Worst thing is that it looks like the Cons have a clear majority, no one to apply any brakes.

    @fatmaninabox Why is it only the poor that vote against self interest? It was the same here last election and I suspect the same former Australian is at least partly to blame.

    Cheers

    From a not so cheery Janette

    #39975
    JimTheFish @jimthefish
    Time Lord

    Well, to quote Irvine Welsh ‘delighted for Scotland, gutted for England.’ Genuinely surprised at the drubbing Labour took south of the border and feel sorry for Ed Miliband, who I kind of like, but he clearly made some bad calls throughout the campaign. (That ‘EdStone’, I mean, what now?) All in all, depressing though. God knows what this country is going to look like five years from now.

    Now, someone pass the aspirin…

    #39977
    Mudlark @mudlark

    Turkey Constituency

    Christmas            X

    The only small spark of consolation as far as I am concerned is that the Labour candidate in the constituency where I live took the seat from a Lib Dem who got in last time by the squeakiest of narrow margins, and all I have seen and heard of him so far leads me to hope that he will make an excellent constituency MP.  And since it was evident from the constituency polling that he didn’t need any help from me, I felt free to vote Green.  There was a ‘What the … !’ moment when the exit poll predicted a Green victory here,  but although the ward where I live always elects Greens in the local elections, and was plastered with Green posters and garden signs, I don’t think that anyone here believed it for an instant.

    I stayed up for the early results, but by 2 am I was rapidly losing the will to live and too depressed to get drunk, so I sought oblivion in my bed.  Not that it helped much, because I was too wound up to sleep soundly.

    🙁

     

    #39979
    Anonymous @

    @purofilion @janetteb @jimthefish

    An awful, awful result. Still, on the bright side the lovely people of Birmingham showed some sense.

    #39980
    Miapatrick @miapatrick

    Hi everyone, not been on for a while because of juggling assignments with moving with trying to get new house in shape with not much money, and should be revising now but can’t concentrate. Combination of hangover and disappointment, I suppose.

    On a happier subject, after realising how long it is since I last visited, I’ve enjoyed reading through this thread. I start level three creative writing this autumn, so I’m particularly glad this site exists 🙂

    #39984
    ichabod @ichabod

    @janetteb     What is wrong with the world?  Fear; fear of losing what we have (however little that may be), to change.  Fear may make companions of us all, but it most often makes us companions in selfishness, idiocy, and destructiveness.  Scared people run, resist the irresistible, or shut their eyes and pretend nothing is happening.   Enormous changes are already happening — climate change and all its miserable fall-out that we’ve only just begun to realize is real; the replacement of human workers by technology because that’s what makes profit for owners and keeps prices low for the bread and circuses needed to still unrest; massive population shifts starting to pick up speed as wars over dwindling resources continue (e.g. water poisoned by chemicals means less potable water for everyone); and whatever crap is lurking in Left Field that most of us haven’t seen coming yet.  Oh, and the mass extinctions of huge swathes of the flora and fauna of our planet + the smaller cultures that haven’t been flattened yet by Western values + languages whose last speakers are dying out.

    People are scared for overpowering reasons, some real and some wildly paranoid (see the aggressive panic being whipped up in Texas by conspiracy crazies over military training exercises scheduled in that state being actually a Federal “coup” in disguise).  Scared people dig in their heels and demand protection from change, so governments that also dig in their heels oppose change.  The diggers-in will be swept away eventually, but they won’t go quietly or quickly, and our grandkids’ kids are going to have one hell of a lot of glass to sweep up afterwards.  They will not thank us.  Fine with me; we, as a set of generations of humanity, don’t deserve thanks.  There’s a price to be paid for our “Golden Age” of wealth for the few, war and ruin for the many.  The bills are coming in thick and fast and, surprise, surprise,  nobody wants to pay up.

    So what’s our job, if we’re for facing the change and trying to adjust to it and steer into less crippling losses and outcomes?  I dunno.  Do what you can, refuse to despair over what’s beyond your reach to help, and endure?  That’s a hard sell.  I expect you have to choose it for yourself, and choose to believe that that will make a difference, and that’s a hard, hard slog.

    I am too old for this shit, but it’s hitting the fan anyway.  That’s how I see it.  I hope I’m wrong.

    #39991
    lisa @lisa

    @ichabod @Janette Current events are having a deep impact on all of us! Politics and violence
    and Monsanto killing us and the bees with poisonous chemicals and immigration and all of the rest
    tangled up together making us all want to despair has also been on my mind a lot too. I’m being
    haunted by all kinds of irrationality that I see everywhere. Still I’m always trying to *not*
    feel disdain and too discouraged but instead try to fill myself with toleration. However, I also
    think there seems to be too many irrational and irresponsible poor choices being made and it feels
    dangerous and sobering! Don’t even get me going with corruption. That has been a glaring issue
    which is all about the money. Seems like there are indeed lots of accelerants around.
    Maybe that’s why the UK swung conservative? Maybe they felt benefit in having the devil you know?

    #39995
    Anonymous @

    @fatmaninabox so it was a clean sweep of victory for the conservatives? Why doesn’t it surprise me? But good for Birmingham. Thanks for the election map. We can’t really get anything like that here -unless it’s for Oz or if it’s in the States.

    @ichabod @mudlark @lisa I understand how you feel. The Lib Dem guy just seems utterly worn out. God how awful. Looks like Miliband will resign? “did we vote in the wrong brother” -type thing as said by the Australian reporter living in London and working for the newspaper, The Australian (a bastion of Murdoch conservatism in itself).

    So, pass a drink to drown sorrows. I read your heartfelt statement, Ichi and feel too, that society must see that governments are constrained by only us. We are the government. We vote in who we need or want – who will benefit our own particular nest egg as Corporate Inc.

    High taxes are the only way to help re-build the services which all people need -whether it be schools, health care, elderly services, mental health and protection of native wildlife and indeed protection of our future, that of the planet itself.

    It seems people have no real perception of a 5 year or 20 year plan for the future. Where do they think their great grand children will be in 30 -50 years without a decent health and education service? These services belong to us. It’s not about an ‘us and them’ scenario. Services exist because we put them there to begin with. Also, it’s a cyclic connection -what goes around does come around. I feel concerned about my son’s future and his earning ability. Thank God he’ll inherit the small house but millions have little option but to rent because they’ll never afford a home of their own. Middle classes without a home?

    Who woulda thunk it?

    #39996
    Anonymous @

    @jimthefish I’ll have to Google the ‘edstone’ remark because I didn’t know about that or its significance. We weren’t given much indication in Oz how the campaign went except for Cameron’s (rather typical and inherent to the TV stations and papers which are either Murdoch or Packer owned).

    Bah to aspirin! Just keep on with the Laphr…yep, that scotch, I can say it but I can’t spell it for nuts.  🙂

    @miapatrick welcome back to you. Glad to see the house work (is that the right expression?) and the school work haven’t drowned you completely!!

    #40007
    Anonymous @

    @ichabod

    if you’re after good mysteries may I suggest the wonderful Oz Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries? Up to its 3rd successful season possibly, it has the refreshingly light quality that these dramas thrive on with wonderful production values, a female protagonist who is unpredictable and independent (it’s set in the ’20s) who doesn’t need a male to help her survive. The wardrobe is delightful and the stage actress, Essie Davis, is the heroine -she’s got  real pizazz (does anyone use that word anymore?) and the drama has the usual twists and turns you’d expect from a good Friday night mystery.

    #40008
    xiaoxiaoxuan @xiaoxiaoxuan

    Shanxi is the country’s coal-producing province, coal has been the driving force of China’s economic development, the development and utilization of coal, China’s economic development has played a huge role in promoting, but also on the surrounding environment had a significant impact. After secondary processing of coal mining in Shanxi crusher market and therefore prosperous. For the development process of the main coal waste, coal gangue crusher also recently been a number of coal industry enterprises attention, with the rapid development of China’s economic system reform and industry, in the case of energy resources become scarce As most abundant coal resources in Shanxi Province, will also set off a new wave of coal resources integration.
    Integration of coal resources in Shanxi Province, Shanxi also to the crusher industry has brought great opportunities for development, the main application for large-scale coal crushing machinery industry, the production of heavy PE12001500 Zenith jaw crusher, crusher 69, a large quarry crusher, hammer crusher and so on, plus the supporting belt conveyors and vibrating screening equipment, you can satisfy market demand.
    In addition to the coal market, Shanxi crusher get a good market application also includes roads, railways, bridges, infrastructure, chemicals, etc. in the field, after originally appeared as gangue waste, Shanxi crusher also processed directly in the underground fill mined-out area or on the ground after processing filling underground mined-out area; gangue crusher crushing after generation; later also through the mill processing coal gangue brick, cement and lightweight aggregate and other building materials.

    #40010
    Anonymous @

    @fatmaninabox could you consider the reasons for this ‘new member’ (above) posting political and economic info that has nothing to do with Dr Who?

    If it was a regular member moaning about the results of the UK election, I’d understand,  but this is the wrong forum for a diatribe of this nature. It’s possible, as I read the broken English, that it was a complete misunderstanding and shouldn’t have appeared on this site  -in other words as an accident, but this person has just registered and in the middle of the night. So, it’s a bizarre post.

    Kindest, puro

    #40012
    ichabod @ichabod

    @purofiion    Thanks, I’ve got that series on my list — it looks very promising.

    #40013
    janetteB @janetteb

    @purofilion that is indeed perhaps the most random post I have ever encountered on this or any forum. I certainly wouldn’t be clicking on that link and advise everybody else not to. I am certain that one of our good mods will delete when they are next back on board.

    Sorry to see Ed resign. He seemed genuine if not a fire brand. @ichabod interesting post. The right wing press fuel paranoia, xenophobia etc. They follow developments in behavioral research too and know how to utilise the findings. (Using that word “they” again. By “they” I am thinking Murdoch and ilk). They recognise that people will vote against their own self interests for the “greater good” and so now play to that instinct. That is how they are selling austerity. This was very evident during the Labor years here. The “stimulus package”, ie handing the electorate money did not win the government votes. Giving people money proved to be an unpopular move, no doubt aided by the press which were pushing the “Friedman/Thatcherist” economic line. Also the fact that we coasted through the economic crash at least in part due to the application of Keynesian economics appeared to go mostly unnoticed. The result is that as @fatmaninabox observed earlier, poor people vote for rich people to make them poorer. They knowingly vote against their own self interest in the, (misguided) belief that they are voting for a greater good.

    Cheers

    Janette

     

     

    #40014
    lisa @lisa

    @Janette People vote against their own interests because of social issues. The media takes
    advantage with subliminal messages particularly during election times.
    But I think there is also the racial/immigration topic that UKIP brought forward. Cameron
    was the only one that promised a referendom. Its possible that swayed a lot of folks thinking
    that although they don’t want UKIP they also not sure they want Labors position.
    I might be off base but from what I read going up to the vote it was my impression that people
    know there will be no wealth redistribution under the Cons but they have seen some minor positive
    economic movement under the Cons so far. To be honest I think many Brits don’t want to see the
    UK continue to change. UKIP may have felt to radical but the Cons may have been portrayed as
    having the best option or ‘hijacking the sweet spot’ to protect that notion. Maybe?

    #40015
    lisa @lisa

    @ Janette – I messed up my @ to you in the last post. I’m so consistently
    crap at those details! 🙁

    #40016
    lisa @lisa

    @Janette Just saying that I sent a post [actually messed up the @ twice! Good Grief}
    and good night 🙂

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