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.

only when he makes a fine job of turnbury golf course

It was her. No doubt about it. Or her sister.

'Fake News' or not? Hmmm? However, it does seem plausible. Hmmm? Anyway....

Trump aides planning to flee as Wolff book throws White House deeper into turmoil: reports
Travis Gettys
05 JAN 2018 AT 07:45 ET

As bad as thing have been so far in the White House under President Donald Trump, they soon could get even worse.

Michael Wolff’s new book Fire and Fury depicts a chaotic and dysfunctional White House where staffers fear and loathe the president, whom they regard as a vain and moody “idiot,” and those conditions have exacerbated the stress that comes with the job, reported Axios.

“More than half a dozen of the more skilled White House staff are contemplating imminent departures,” according to Axios co-founders Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei. “Many leaving are quite fearful about the next chapter of the Trump presidency.”

The website collected more than a dozen anecdotes from Wolff’s book, which has infuriated Trump so much that aides are simply avoiding him.

Trump has threatened to sue Wolff over his book, but Axios reported that his lawyers laughed at the president’s bluster.

Those anecdotes show how unprepared Trump is for the presidency, and how he ignores or disregards advice and follows his instincts wherever they lead — even when he contradicts himself.

“He seemed almost phobic about having formal demands on his attention,” Wolff wrote.

Wolff described a “wackadoo” moments whenever the president rambled off topic, and staffers were forced into “intense method-acting” to pretend not to notice “what everyone could see.”

“In the Trump White House, policy making … flowed up.” Wolff wrote. “It was a process of suggesting, in throw-it-against-the-wall style, what the president might want, and hoping he might then think that he had thought of this himself.”

Those conditions have many staffers considering a hasty exit, although it’s not clear how attractive those jobs will be once they’re open.
.........................................................................

Michael Wolff: Trump’s White House says president is ‘like a child’
By Yaron Steinbuch
January 5, 2018 8:44am

Michael Wolff, the author of an explosive new book about the White House, insisted Friday that he had spoken to President Trump on the record – and said everyone he interviewed said the president “is like a child,” according to a report.

Wolff told NBC’s “Today” show that everyone he spoke to for the book offered the same description of the commander-in-chief.

They all said “he is like a child,” Wolff said.

Wolff also said he “absolutely” spoke to the president during his reporting for the book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”

“It was certainly not off the record,” Wolff said, adding that he has recordings and notes of his interviews with the presdient’s aides.

The unflattering tell-all features shocking anecdotes, including claims from former top aide Steve Bannon that Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russians at Trump Tower in June 2016 was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”

Trump has lashed back at his former chief strategist and tweeted Thursday night that he “authorized Zero access to White House” for the author and “never spoke to him for book.”

The president also used the term “Sloppy Steve,” apparently referring to Bannon.

On Friday, Wolff said on “Today” that Trump isn’t one to talk when it comes to credibility.

“My credibility is being questioned by a man who has less credibility than, perhaps, anyone who has ever walked on Earth at this point,” Wolff said.

Wolff’s book was released early Friday by Henry Holt & Co., which announced a day earlier it was pushing up the publication date due to high demand.

Earlier Thursday, Trump personal attorney Charles Harder demanded in a letter sent to Wolff and his publisher, that the book not be published or disseminated.

The book reached No. 1 on the Amazon best-seller list on Wednesday.

Fred1 - your friend Tony Blair stated that the story that mentioned him in the book, was just false. So do you trust the man that mislead Parliament over weapons of mass destruction?

Clockwork,

Get back in your box.

Read posts on my opinion of Blair before he was elected PM. and also prior to the Iraq war.

Nevertheless, in comparisons with the present bunch of con artists led by the incompetent Theresa May, he and his government were more competent.

Iraq was murderous folly supported by the conservatives and their nincompoop of a leader Ian Duncan Smith who was shown prancing down Downing Street after consulting with Blair.

-=-=-=-


As far as quotes by Wolff are concerned I would prefer to believe Blair.


But you read into the book what suits you.

I hope you have bought it on Amazon, personally I will read it when it starts appearing on the bookshelves of Oxfam.

Clockwork,

Ps.

I believe one of your icons was overjoyed at Trump's success and invited him for a state visit, while another, who I would think is one of your glamour boys, Farage, was delighted to work for the possibly psychotic Trump.

More bad news...


https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/05/uk-productivity-jumps-at-fastest-rate-for-six-years

Another appraisal:


https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-productivity/uk-productivity-growth-hits-six-year-high-after-weakest-decade-since-1820s-idUKKBN1EU0UO?feedType=nl&feedName=ukdailyinvestor&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=UK%20Lunch%20Break%202018-01-05&utm_term=UK%20Lunch%20Break

UK productivity growth hits six-year high after weakest decade since 1820s
David Milliken
5 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s economic productivity perked up in the three months to the end of September, growing at its fastest rate in more than six years, in contrast to its historically weak performance over the previous decade.

FILE PHOTO - City workers are seen at their offices in the financial district of the City of London, Britain, January 7, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
Productivity in Britain has stagnated since the global financial crisis even more than in most other advanced economies, and has played a key role in squeezing Britons’ living standards.

Over the past 10 years productivity growth was the weakest since modern records began and appears to be the slowest since the early 1820s, when Britain was emerging from the Napoleonic wars, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.

During the third quarter of 2017, output per hour worked grew by 0.9 percent compared with the three months before, its first rise since late 2016 and the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2011, the ONS said.

However, the upturn reflected a fall in the number of people in work over the period rather than strong economic growth, which was a lacklustre 0.4 percent.

Britain’s economy slowed last year, despite strong global growth, as the plunge in the pound that followed its 2016 vote to leave the European Union triggered higher inflation that hurt consumer spending.

The uncertainty generated by Brexit has also weighed on businesses’ willingness to invest.

UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK
Productivity dropped in the first half of 2017 as businesses hired staff faster than they increased output. Compared with a year before, third-quarter productivity was just 0.8 percent higher, less than half its pre-crisis growth rate.

Late last year Britain’s government forecasters revised down their long-run productivity forecasts to around 1 percent a year, after previous expectations for it to pick up to nearer 2 percent were repeatedly disappointed.

A weaker productivity outlook also drove the BoE’s decision in November to raise interest rates for the first time in more than a decade, as it judged the economy would struggle to grow much faster than 1.5 percent a year without creating excessive inflation.

That said, Friday’s data showed unit labour costs - a measure of how much it costs to produce a given amount of output, and a key driver of inflation - rose by the least since the second quarter of 2015, increasing 1.3 percent.

Howard Archer, an economist at forecasters EY ITEM Club, said productivity was likely to have recovered further in the final three months of 2017. Early indications suggest growth remained solid while the number of people in work fell.

But he was less positive about the longer term.

“A major risk is that prolonged uncertainty and concerns over the UK’s economic outlook ends up weighing down markedly on business investment and damages productivity,” he said.

It's over: I'm A Celebrity star Kiosk Keith has been fired after he allegedly 'behaved inappropriately' towards a young female crew member

The show will never be the same. :-))

Isnt the whole point of the "show", shagging?

he must have smiled at her

this whole harassment thing is now getting totally farcical, except for the victims (where it's actually serious and true) and for the accused

A lot of these girls (women!) are old enough to stand up for themselves ..... if a fellow actor pinches her bum or puts his hand on her tits, then it's not exactly terrifying for her and she can tell him where to get off in no uncertain terms .... end of story

where there is genuine coercion, where the perpetrator hold much power - eg weinstein - then it can be more serious, especially if the pestering continues

and now a good laugh from BBC Breaking News ......

President Trump insists he is "a very stable genius" ........ that man is really out with the fairies

During the course of my life, I've met quite a few of what DT is....

Mostly, they are called 'arrogant tossers'.

:-)

Happy days are here again.

The Living Dead Conservative Party

LOL - Fred1 - It is not surprising that you would rather believe a proven liar, because you are happy to promote and champion the cause of the loony left that behave like a bunch of drowning caged rats - squealing for life before being condemned and snuffed out for at least the next few decades.

The rich will just get richer until there is a revolution.

Clockworks.

You must glad you got that off your chest.

Heigh-ho!

Don't upset poor old Fred he has nothing better to do than post cartoons on here all weekend ,should get out more .

Germany

Government survey shows 10.4% rise in violence with newcomers accounting for 92% of the increase.

Well done Murky

cynic [Send an email to cynic] [View cynic's profile] - 06 Jan 2018 13:42 - 79813 of 79819
and now a good laugh from BBC Breaking News ......

President Trump insists he is "a very stable genius" ........ that man is really out with the fairies

---

Trump believes people - for and against - are obsessed with him, he is correct.

Happy new year to all.

Cheers,
KidA