Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Former KGB colonel says he paid late union leader Jack Jones £200 for information
Jack Jones was in the pay of the KGB when he was Britain's most powerful union leader, according to a former spy chief.



By Martin Beckford 10:00PM BST 22 Apr 2009
The former general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, who died aged 96 this week, is said to have been paid £200 for collaborating with the Soviet secret service during the Cold War.
Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB colonel who also worked as a double agent for MI5 before becoming the highest-ranking defector to the West, claims he personally gave Jones the money for useful information.
He claims that in 1982 he was posted to London as the Soviet Union's espionage chief in Britain and met Jones – supposedly given the codename Dream – at his flat in south London. By that time he had retired but was still close to key figures in Labour and the trades union movement.
The 70-year-old Russian, who lives in Surrey, says he asked Jones to tell him the names of other left-wingers who would make good recruits for the Soviets.
"For that I paid him £200," Mr Gordievsky told The Daily Telegraph.
He also claimed Jones also passed on intelligence about the leadership of the Labour Party.
Jones was one of Britain's most prominent left-wing figures, having fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades before becoming head of the TGWU and a confidant of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, the Labour prime ministers.
But he always denied that he helped the Soviets or even met Mr Gordievsky, describing the suggestions as a "slur and an outrage".
"I met Soviet officials at embassies and on visits to Russia on behalf of my members,'' he said when the allegations first surfaced in 1995. "They might have been KGB. I did not realise I was a target. If I had known I was a target for the KGB, or the CIA, I would have had nothing to do with them. I cannot recall any direct approach from the KGB.''
It was later claimed that he had in fact been working for British intelligence, informing of MI5 when Russians approached him.
Mr Gordievsky was in 2007 appointed Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) by the Queen for "services to the security of the United Kingdom''.
A year ago he claimed he had been poisoned by a Russian assassin in a case that echoed the murder of his friend Alexander Litvinenko, another former Russian spy.

Is Ed Miliband really Labour's worst ever leader?


Labour's leadership crisis has been a long time coming. Since taking the top job in his party, Ed Miliband has had trouble convincing anyone to take him seriously. As his poll lead and personal approval ratings leave Ed facing the prospect of throwing away an election that was his for the taking we ask if the Labour Party is looking at its worst leader of all time.
Here are Ed's contenders:



Jim Callaghan
"Sunny Jim" became leader of the Labour Party, and prime minister, after Harold Wilson's surprise resignation in 1976. He became the first person to have held all four great offices of state – foreign secretary, home secretary, chancellor and PM.
But after four unremarkable years, he was brought down by his conflict with the unions: the strikes over pay during the Winter of Discontent crippled his government's popularity, and his response to an interviewer's question about the "mounting chaos" in the country ("I don't think that other people in the world would share the view that there is mounting chaos") led to the Sun's famous headline: "Crisis? What crisis?" Callaghan never recovered, later admitting that he had "let the country down", and was ousted by Margaret Thatcher's Tories in 1979.



Michael Foot
Given how he is remembered, it's surprising to think that Michael Foot was elected as Labour leader, after Callaghan stood down in 1980, as a compromise candidate between the Bennite Left of the party and the Right, represented mainly by Denis Healey. But as soon as he was elected, four senior Right-wing party members – Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, David Owen and William Rodgers – left t form the Social Democratic Party, pushing the party to the Left.
Despite leading the polls early in his leadership, by the time the general election came around, Foot – who had been mocked for wearing a "donkey jacket" to the Remembrance Sunday wreath-laying ceremony – lost in a landslide, their vote split with the SDP. The Labour manifesto, which advocated higher taxes, nuclear disarmament, the abolition of the House of Lords, and the nationalising of the banks, was described by the Right-wing Labour MP Gerald Kaufman as "the longest suicide note in history".


Neil Kinnock
Kinnock remains the longest-serving leader of the opposition in British history, having led the Labour Party in the wilderness from 1983 to 1992. The first years of his leadership were spent in a bitter fight with the party's Left, particularly the "Militant Tendency", the Trotskyist movement within the party. He was also highly critical of Arthur Scargill and the tactics used in the miners' strike.
Despite leading the polls ahead of the 1992 election, Kinnock and his party suffered a shock defeat (leading the Sun to declare it was "the Sun wot won it", after a sustained campaign against him), and was replaced as leader by John Smith.



Gordon Brown
After Labour, under Tony Blair, won election in a landslide in 1997, Gordon Brown became chancellor of the exchequer, where he remained for almost 10 years. But it was claimed that before the election, in a restaurant in Islington, the pair had agreed that Blair would stand aside to allow Brown to become leader. A decade later, this happened – but only after the two men's relationship had become unworkable, with widespread rumours that Brown was actively sabotaging Blair from within the Treasury.
Once in power, Brown looked set for an easy victory over a demoralised Tory party – and he came close to calling an election in the first months of his premiership, while he was riding high in the polls. But he backed away from it, and shortly after the global economy collapsed; then, a series of leadership challenges and defeats in by-elections and local and European elections left him weaker and weaker. In the run-up to the 2010 general election he was caught on microphone calling Gillian Duffy, a Labour voter he had talked to, "a bigoted woman". Labour slumped to defeat in the election and the only saving grace was that despite the party's unpopularity the Tories were unable to achieve a majority


Ed Miliband
One of Brown's key aides, Miliband, together with his brother David and his close colleague from the Treasury days Ed Balls, was expected to take a key role as the party came to terms with the end of New Labour and a return to opposition. But David was expected to be the next Labour leader. In the post-election leadership contest, though, Miliband stood – unexpectedly – and, with the support of the Left of the party and the trade unions, beat his brother, in what commentators described as "fratricide" and "stabbing his brother in the back".
His awkward personal style, though, has never been popular with the electorate – he has consistently trailed both his party and his opposite number, David Cameron, in terms of popularity, even while Labour has remained ahead in the polls. And various PR gaffes and terrible photo opportunities, including his failure to eat a bacon sandwich and a tweet which described the late Bob Holness as the host of "Blackbusters", have dogged his leadership, as his poll lead against the Tories has gently ebbed. In recent days he has suffered another blow, as rumours of a leadership challenge have swirled around him, although he has denied a plot against him and insisted he will lead the party to the election.

Why does the Labour party continue to elect such dismal leaders? They are all unsuitable to run the country. They are chosen by the influence of the unions. It also seems that the Labour party is very good at recruiting incompetents in general.

Haze,

Because the prefer a reasonably honest group of individuals who have aspire to a social responsibility rather than the elected a corrupt bunch of self serving elitist who tend to dependent on inherited advantages and intent on preserving their personal advantages.

Hopefully, and probably the UK electorate will hold similar views.


-=-=-=-==

Max,

If you haven’t already viewed http://www.gresham.ac.uk/professors-and-speakers/professor-vernon-bogdanor-fba-cbe
Have a look.

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/professors-and-speakers/professor-vernon-bogdanor-fba-cbe

It was part of my period of growing up and was an interesting reflection of the 45-51 political period and effects on UK politics.

Also, one may see similarities to the present political period.

==========


I wish he had included a critique of the successes and failures of the actual period of government.

Ed is the biggest gaffe of all of them. David Milliband would have been our next PM without doubt imo.

TV was blinkin awful I thought .....don't watch much anyway but what do you get ? Eastenders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and some panel shows.......is that the best they can serve now ? if the younger generation could go back to the seventies and see the fantastic shows throughout the Christmas/New Year where you were really spoilt for choice....would never have believed then how poor it is today...thank god for dvds...anyway..having a quiet Christmas/New Year.....

And what the hell is a ...Crimbo ?......does that come from latin ?...

RF

Didn't you watch " On The Buses " , just as funny as it was in the 70's

Don't you have Free view ? there are loads of old shows to watch.

Anyway...stuffing myself with leg of lamb follow-up....chateau plonko....followed by deserto muller corner out of date cherry.....

Yes Allders....I do....had a look on channel 24...nothing....15...can't remember...6....Bond seen too many times....will have a look tonight....I do have some Steptoe dvds to watch.....

Didn't you see that "On the Buses " was on yesterday and all the Carry on films

Didn't you see that "On the Buses " was on yesterday and all the Carry on films

Missed on the Buses...(the inspector made the show)....I used to think....saw a Carry on film a couple of weeks ago....with Corbett as a dectective....looking for Watt...sort of "The Munsters show"....ohhhh Iiii... sayyyy....with Kenneth Williams....those bolts...really suit you Herman....(along those lines)....a scream.....

What a jumper.

Some things to read at leisure .. the end of the US dollar as a reserve currency?

Long-ish articles, well worth a read imo.



China


Dec 17, '14



THE ROVING EYE
Go west, young Han
By Pepe Escobar

November 18, 2014: it's a day that should live forever in history. On that day, in the city of Yiwu in China's Zhejiang province, 300 kilometers south of Shanghai, the first train carrying 82 containers of export goods weighing more than 1,000 tons left a massive warehouse complex heading for Madrid. It arrived on December 9.

Welcome to the new trans-Eurasia choo-choo train. At over 13,000 kilometers, it will regularly traverse the longest freight train route in the world, 40% farther than the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway. Its cargo will cross China from East to West, then Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France, and finally Spain.



More: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-171214.html


...................................................................................

Russia and China, time's, they are a changing...


Russian Roulette – Is the west about to shoot itself in the head, heart and the foot – just to make sure?

Posted on December 24, 2014 Updated on December 26, 2014


One year on, as the Federal Reserve celebrates another birthday, both Gold and Silver were beaten down in the London aftermarket close, while trading was at its lowest. And the Russian Rouble was similarly attacked by those behind the curtain.

As the Russian Rouble recovers some of its losses of the last week, in the last few days, I have been re-visiting some of my reading matter, of the last few weeks.

Ever since Russia annexed Crimea, ostensibly to give citizenship to ethnic Russians, but many feel it was to save its only warm water port, “The West”, has been ratcheting up the tension and the rhetoric on Russia.

The NATO block has interfered in Ukraine, too many times. The American led organisation the IMF, has been interfering, with its money, and the West has provided IMF led financial support to the Ukrainian Government and military, and rumours abound, that the IMF and its minions have taken Ukraine’s Gold – some 40 tons apparently – as a surety. (Rumoured to be the source of Holland’s recently returned 127 tons of Gold).

According to Bloomberg today, Ukraine has sold more of its Gold holdings, reducing its holdings from 26.1 tons, to 23.6 tons (2.5 tons) and Russia has bought more rising from 1,168.7 tons to 1,187.5 tons (18.8 tons).

But Russia is not the one in trouble – the Fed and the U.S. is. Russia’s Debt to GDP ratio is roughly 11 percent. What is the Debt to GDP ratio in the United States? According to the IMF it’s 112 percent. What is the Debt to GDP ratio in Japan? It’s a staggering 230 percent. And Russia is sitting on a lot of reserves of very valuable natural resources.



More: http://moneymatterstoo.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/russian-roulette-is-the-west-about-to-shoot-itself-in-the-head-heart-and-the-foot-just-to-make-sure/?preview=true&preview_id=28691&preview_nonce=957e3242a0&post_format=standard

The US debt is not a problem. China holds a huge amount of the debt. Both parties are happy with this. The US gets funded by China and they get access to a huge market enabling their rapid expansion. It also means a lower exchange rate for China. This relationship has existed for many years already and is set to continue into the middle of this century.

The point of both articles have sailed straight past you...you didn't even come close to twigging.

Both the articles are similar to a number of similar pieces written recently. It is a sort of alternative reality. I am not sure what the motives are of the authors.

Our area has a warning for tomorrow for 'yellow snow'.

Or was it a 'yellow warning' for snow? Hmmm? Well, whatever....

Warning: Do not eat yellow snow.

From the comment section:


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http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2014/dec/26/ben-jennings-collapse-city-link-cartoon