ChezGiven

Motion carried.

No it's definitely because you're a cunt.

I don't care if you're a makem anymore as you're definitely a cunt.

https://soundcloud.com/100percentsilk/jupiter-jax-the-light-feat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Xj4vP0Yhs

Stockholm: For pubs, try Wirstroms on Gamla Stan but to be honest anything on Gamla Stan is expensive. I'd avoid eating there but there are some decent restaurants. The Southside Pub on Hornsgatan (just next to a metro stop on Sodermalm) is where my brother drinks. They know me in there too. For food, Nytorget 6 (also on Sodermalm but the other side) is good but in 30-40 SEK mark. If you're feeling adventurous, take the boat out to Sandhamm on the edge of the archipelago, its beautiful and very nice for lunch. Not sure you can do it in a day though.

That's ridiculous. A common criticism of Pardew was that he was unable to get the most out of a group of great players. That delusion seems to have disappeared with the players now more accurately cast as shite. Pardew managed to at least get the odd good run out of them. I'd like to think we now have a better perspective on the quality of resources Pardew was working with.

I think the idea of bringing the budget forward is because some deep and unpleasant cuts are coming. The IFS are saying that the £12bn planned will mean cuts to child and disability welfare. The 'austerity' narrative is going nowhere and as the corrolary of that narrative is profligate Labour (itself a perversion of prudent Gordon Brown) then the events of the 2000s, the Great Recession and the Tory response will continue to dominate.

Just to continue on my theme, people are still unpicking the Tory narrative, the governor of the Bank of England is making speeches referring to it and the spending plans of Osborne will ensure that these questions remain pertinent. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/17/one-nation-conservatism-not-under-george-osborne

I think its without question Pardew would have got us more points and kept us up. Would have just postponed the inevitable though. Giving insiders like Carver the job is what Ashley does so whenever Pardew left I'm of the view it was always going to be one of the clowns already working alongside him who took over.

Best Steve Watson anecdote ever.

UKIP wouldn't hold all the cards, am not explaining it a third time. No party would want to form a coalition with them anyway. However if the Tories did they'd have a party opposed to their mindless welfare cuts to keep them in check. For issues like Europe, the majority of Labour and Tories vote the same so that issue goes away. No one sensible can look at 4 million votes and 1 seat and claim it's good for democracy. Apart from you apparently which doesn't make you a contrarian thinker. It's makes you a tit.

I'm a massive fan and use it every week. What works for me is not having to carry currency or get a receipt and it working in (virtually) every country I travel to. Airport to city centre is often expensive and few taxis take cards so you always need lots of cash (e.g. Malpensa to Milan city centre is 100+). With Uber you land, launch the app, tap the pick up button and that's it. When you get out the receipt is emailed to you and is kept on your account page. My secretary has access and just downloads the pdf to put it straight into the system. For that alone I love it. I read recently that some business don't use cabs anymore (in US probably) and the whole company account is through Uber. Obviously I use the executive service but the basic is cheaper than a cab and apparently you can car pool too and make it even cheaper. The fact that you can use it so many different ways makes it good. The safety issue doesn't exist, it's safer than a cab as everything from time of pick up, drop off, route taken and location is recorded and easily accessible. The cherry on the cake being a few taxi drivers might understand the impact of welfare cuts a bit more acutely.

There is a strong chance that the next labour leader will do this and a strong chance they attempt to expose the lie because austerity and massive welfare cuts are set to be major feature of the next government. The deficits and its causes will therefore remain on the table. You can do it in three sentences. The size of the deficit spending in total (adjusted for surplus years) was less than £200bn. The size of the UK banking bail out was over £500bn in one year alone. The subsequent recession caused by the financial crisis cost the economy nearly a trillion dollars. Of course some people might want to argue that the money spent in 2002 to 2007 period could have been used to help the economy but that's a redundant point as the age of austerity buried that policy option. It would be a very stupid Tory voter who argues for Keynesian spending policies to get us out of a recession.

So you know what white men taste like then?

They need someone who can tell the economic history of Britain between 2002 and 2012 as shown in the article below and command the data and the room. They need to be able to get to the 7th graph and the nail the arguments underneath. Speak to the centre and help them understand what happened. They then need to play to the left by bringing corporation tax and the welfare state together into the same narrative. http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5509/economics/government-spending-under-labour/

So in that scenario you could have a coalition of Labour Lib Dem and Greens with 300 votes who would only need the SNP to get anything over the line. So what though, the arguments from France are about the difference between having no seats or having a few seats. There are a lot of far right wingers in France and England but not enough to dominate any government with its will as long as the vote is at the levels they are now. As much as I don't like saying it, UKIP deserve more voice and having it would be more democratic. As long as that constituency does not become as significant as one of the major parties, they won't dominate anything as not even half of thee closest allies would support their extreme views. The whips know this so when it come to red line negotiations in the formation of coalitions, they know that they can vote down extreme policies and therefore not accept then as part of any deal. You not getting that is why you aren't following what I'm saying.

Prometheus was better on second viewing. I think the cave art directing humans to the planet pre-dates the decision to wipe out humanity. The engineers get killed by the dodgy slime about 2000 years ago. I think the idea was that a decision to kill off humanity was taken but something went wrong and the engineers got killed whilst putting in place their plan. All the cave art on earth is much older than that so I guess the inference is that something happened on earth about 2000 years ago which triggered the decision.

Just mentioned seeing him in concert at the HOB in Chicago. He worked ridiculously hard, was touring round Europe until a few years ago and had a residency at the HOB. He was a classy performer, full of charm and engaging with the audience. RIP.

If only 12.6% of voters say foreign aid should disappear by voting for a party and that party forms a coalition then 1. The other parties in the coalition have to agree to table the change and 2. Over 50% of parliament has to vote for it and 3 UKIP can't force this red line in coalition negotiations if the majority whip calculates it would fail anyway. We don't have to express on here how PR works, Lord Jenkins wrote a report on it for Blair, there are plenty of ways in which it is more democratic and gives everyone a reason to vote. We can keep constituencies and have a more representative parliament. I'm sorry like but that post of yours was total and utter bollocks and demonstrates a total lack of understanding of how coalitions work. A Tory UKIP coalition was not even likely if we had had PR and there are a significant amount of centrist Tories (the reason they got so many votes) to ensure the nonsense from UKIP got kicked into the long grass. One last thing; PR was invented to avoid extremists and that is exactly what it has done for 70 years across Europe, so no matter how much you cling on to your poorly thought out arguments, a cursory examination of some actual facts should show you how incorrect you are.

Loving Courtney Barnett, the first two tracks are rollicking good fun. Listened through a couple of times and it's got enough depth to get into more seriously. TPAB clearly makes 2015 a special year anyway but I think I've got about 10 albums already that am listening to regularly.

Fuck all.