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.

Congratulations on 10 years, David Cameron - but don't rest on your laurels
Telegraph View: The Prime Minister can be proud of his record as Tory leader. Now for the challenges ahead.


By Telegraph View7:00AM GMT 06 Dec 2015Comments81 Comments
What a difference a decade makes. On December 6 2005, David Cameron was elected as leader of the Conservative Party. He had shown his star quality during the leadership campaign, notably in his barnstorming speech to the party conference, but he was still an unknown quantity – a young, untested figure who had won the leadership not through a glittering CV but because his promise of a “modern, compassionate Conservative Party” struck a chord with a membership scarred by three humiliating electoral defeats.
To say that Mr Cameron has grown into the role is an understatement. Ten years on, he stands as the dominant figure in British politics – the man who, with a little help from George Osborne and Lynton Crosby, has made the Conservative Party appear once more to be the natural party of government. True, he has been lucky in his enemies: Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband and now Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Cameron has insisted that he will not fight another general election. That means that his place in history will be shaped, and determined, by what happens in the next few years.
But he has also shown a pugnacity and tenacity that could only be guessed at back in 2005. He has started to overhaul welfare and education, helped the low-paid, enabled the private sector to create millions of jobs, widened the Tory party’s electoral appeal, and made commendable progress in cutting back the state’s excesses after the profligacy of the Labour years. He was rewarded, earlier this year, with a remarkable and unexpected election victory, one that proved so traumatising to the Labour Party that it allowed itself to be captured by the most extreme elements of the Left.
Mr Cameron has insisted that he will not fight another general election. That means that his place in history will be shaped, and determined, by what happens in the next few years. Such, indeed, is the fluidity of the political scene – in Britain, in Europe, and across the world – that these final years in office will be enormously significant. They will, assuming all goes well, see the completion of Mr Osborne’s deficit reduction programme, the culmination of a decade-long reshaping of the state. They will hopefully see us resolve – one way or the other – the vexed question of our relationship with the European Union. They will see us threatened further by the forces of Islamist extremism, both at home and abroad. That is on top of other crucial issues in Mr Cameron’s in-tray – for example, how to work through the tensions between Scotland and England in a way that creates a sustainable future for the United Kingdom, and whether to push ahead with Heathrow expansion, in the face of opposition from London’s politicians.

There is, of course, a certain irony here. Mr Cameron’s argument, during his leadership campaign of 2005, was that the Conservatives had talked too much about Europe, immigration and public spending. Yet these are the issues he must now tackle – and it is his success in doing so that will determine whether his premiership is ultimately perceived as a success or failure.
Regrettably, Mr Cameron has sometimes taken the path of least resistance: for example, in choosing recently to tax businesses and second-home owners, rather than prioritising spending cuts. But he now faces decisions he cannot and should not duck – for example, over airport expansion or getting the best possible deal for Britain in Europe, even if it incurs the wrath of other EU leaders. He should be encouraged that, since he took power, he has won most acclaim for his toughest decisions – for the moments when he or his ministers did what was right, rather than what was easy. And unlike Tony Blair, upon whom his 2005 campaign was modelled, he is blessed with a Chancellor who will cooperate with his wishes, rather than obstruct them.
If he uses his remaining time in Downing Street to establish himself as a truly brave and radical Conservative prime minister, on domestic as well as foreign issues, then Mr Cameron will leave office as a leader who improved public services, salvaged the public finances, and enhanced Britain’s security and its standing in the world. That would certainly be a legacy to be proud of.





Give it five minutes for Fred to recover from his heart attack!! LOL!!!

as soon as i mentioned i was jewish, they didn't want to know!
not sure if they hated the jews or were just afraid of retribution from their own .... you can ask them when they take up residence with you

Jeremy Corbyn urged to pull out of Stop the War Christmas fundraiser
Tristram Hunt says Labour leader should step back over ‘ugly comments’ about Hilary Benn and Paris attacks made by group he used to chair

Tristram Hunt, the former shadow education secretary, has called on Jeremy Corbyn to pull out of a Christmas fundraising event organised by the “disreputable” Stop the War coalition.

Hunt called on the Labour leader not to attend the event in light of its decision to picket the party’s headquarters last week and the “ugly comments” it has made about the shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn.

Hunt told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 on Sunday: “I don’t think that he should go there. Stop the War coalition picketed the Labour party headquarters when we were trying to run a phone-bank for the Oldham byelection, so they were preventing the election of a Labour member of parliament.

“We have also seen some pretty ugly comments from them about Hilary Benn and the fact that Hilary Benn should be sacked. And also their comments about Islamic State and about how the French almost had it coming to them. They are a really disreputable organisation. I would hope Jeremy would step back and not go to their fundraiser.”

Corbyn faced questions at a recent meeting of the parliamentary Labour party over his plans to attend the Christmas fundraiser for the group he chaired until he was elected Labour leader.

Steve Doughty, a shadow foreign office minister, questioned whether it was appropriate for Corbyn to attend a fundraising event for an organisation that responded to the Paris attacks by saying that France was reaping the whirlwind of a decade of wars.

Corbyn said that a blogpost under the headline had been withdrawn by the group. But there was anger last week when the Stop the War coalition organised a demonstration ahead of the Oldham West and Royton byelection and forced the party to postpone a phone-bank campaign.

Guardian.

Perhaps, it was personal!

Just as a matter of interest, what nationality do you consider yourself?

out of curiosity ....... was michael foot obligated to forego open support of the "ban the bomb" brigade when he became party leader? ...... i suspect not

very much british of course, but proud to be jewish by ancestry and the like, even though i don't follow the faith at all ...... but i do support my local synagogue as our rabbi is outstanding in many ways

btw, that does not prevent me from being outspoken about the appalling way in which the israeli gov't is treating the palestinians - and of course being allowed to by the israeli electorate

I understand.

You are just confused!

A bit of a con partier.

You have found a safe haven!

i was born here as were both sets of parents, so not confused in the slightest

you should perhaps have asked if i felt polish at all, to which the answer would be, not in the slightest, and why on earth would i?

the shape of things to come...




Robots Made Fast-Food Workers Obsolete: Now They Are Coming After These 791,200 Jobs



Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/04/2015 23:00 -0500



One month ago, during the latest minimum wage protest by fast food workers, we presented the machine that would soon put most of them out of a job. We were referring to the nemesis of low-skilled burger flippers everywhere, the Momentum Machines burger maker.

The robot is shown below. It occupies 24 square feet, and is much smaller and efficient than most assembly-line fast-food operations. It provides "gourmet cooking methods never before used in a fast food restaurant" and will deposit the completed burger into a bag. It does all of this without a trace of attitude.





According to public data, the company's robot can "slice toppings like tomatoes and pickles immediately before it places the slice onto your burger, giving you the freshest burger possible." Unlike human workers, the robot is "more consistent, more sanitary, and can produce ~360 hamburgers per hour" or a burger every 10 seconds.

Furthermore, future generations of the device "will offer custom meat grinds for every single customer. Want a patty with 1/3 pork and 2/3 bison ground to order? No problem."

As the company's website adds, "our various technologies can produce an ever-growing list of common choices like salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, and many other multi-ingredient foods with a gourmet focus."

But most importantly, it has no wage demands: once one is purchashed it will work with 100% efficiency for years. And it never goes on strike.

As the company's co-founder Alexandros Vardakostas told Xconomy his "device isn’t meant to make employees more efficient. It’s meant to completely obviate them."



Well worth a read:

More:http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-04/robots-made-fast-food-workers-obsolete-now-they-are-coming-after-these-791200-jobs

Another of the reasons for a jittery market.

Worth a read.

The roof is being fixed but beware the house crashing beneath it

Larry Elliott


http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/06/geiorge-osborne-roof-being-fixed-beware-house-crash-beneath

Max,

A success for the economy or not?

Work more hours or not?

Produce more trash cheaply?

Who buys it and at what with?

Don't need a workforce?

Just consumers and access to "raw" material.

A successful economy?

What is economic success compared with social responsibility?

Stop the world I want to get off, before somebody throws me off.

Most of us wish you would just fxxx off Fred! Just saying.

For a more rational view of Market conditions :-



'It's not 1929 again': statistical evidence we are NOT heading for a bear market
Is another bear market on its way? History’s lesson suggests there are four key ingredients and none are currently flashing red.

Sunday Telegraph.

Well done Michael!


Nicky Morgan aide forced to resign after facing inquiry over IT contract
Former headteacher stands down from academies in London after he allegedly awarded contracts to his partner

Greg Wallace was sacked by Hackney council after an investigation.


Sunday 6 December 2015 00.05 GMT Last modified on Sunday 6 December 2015 08.55 GMT


Save for later
Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, faced huge embarrassment last night as one of her advisors was forced to quit following revelations to the Department for Education that he was facing a disciplinary hearing over IT contracts awarded to his partner.

Greg Wallace – who was once described by Michael Gove, the former education secretary, as one of his “magnificent seven” academy superheads – agreed to stand down from a government advisory board when approached by education officials after this news-paper alerted them to his track record on Friday.

The former head was dismissed as leader of five schools in Hackney, east London, last year following an investigation into financial irregularities involving contracts given by his academy group to his partner. Wallace is due to appear soon before a disciplinary hearing ordered by the National College for Teaching and Leadership.

Despite his track record, both the Harris Federation of academies, founded by the Conservative party donor Lord Harris, and the government had subsequently appointed Wallace as an adviser. More than 24 hours after the Department for Education was approached with the revelations, a spokesman confirmed that he had vacated his post in response.

There is a story doing the rounds in Westminster that Corbyn passed out for a time a couple of weeks ago due to stress. His supporters and the Labour party are denying that this happened.

Have you heard the saying, "Never believe anything until it is officially denied"?

Hays,

How many times have you passed out????

People are read passage from the bible and told it is from Quran. They condemn the passages to do with cutting off heads and hands and women's place and are shocked to be shown the book is the Bible.

https://youtu.be/zEnWw_lH4tQ

This sounds like a really good idea, until the braincells kick in....



Finland plans to give every citizen 800 euros a month and scrap benefits

A recent poll showed 69% of people agreed with the proposal


Will Grice


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-plans-to-give-every-citizen-800-euros-a-month-and-scrap-benefits-a6762226.html

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/finland/wages