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Perhaps we all got a bit over-excited about the resignations; some knew they had to go - Jacqui Smith, Hoon - others knew they had to go and tried to be spiteful with it - Blears - and yet others were so full of themselves they thought by resigning they'd bring the whole house down - Purnell. No surprise that these and the other resignations emanate from the Blairite camp ; New Labour is now officially floating belly up in the Thames.
Time yet for Gordi to turn things around, both party and country.
Time yet for the electorate to see just how self-serving some of these so called Ministers of State have been, politicking away while the country needs focus on its way out of the economic mess.
Voters, don't forget these resigners - they actually played their part in what was almost a very British coup. They should not be allowed anywhere near Government ever again.

TERMINATOR SALVATION

The premise of the terminator series is basically non linear dynamics.

Foreseeing a potential disaster in the future and then trying to avert it.

Substitute SkyNet and the rise of the machines with collapse of global ecological life support systems.

We have the ability to stop the collapse of global ecological systems if we act now.

We do not have the ability to allow them to collapse then go back in time to stop the extinction of all higher life forms on Earth. That does include us. (See my posts from yesterday).

I see Posh Spice has resigned. Sorry but I didn't really rate her when I see her on Question Time etc. She doesn't seem to grasp the entirety of the challenge. Therefore cannot produce an entirety of a solution.

Was GB quoting from U2 I Will Follow? Check these lyrics.



Politics, ecology, film and music. Think that will do me. A micro Newsnight.


Celtic Lion

ITS VERY INSTERESTING KIRSTY TODAY'S COMMENT. FOR ONE REAZON OR OTHER THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE THAT HAVE LIKE HAMLET TO STRUGGLE STROGARMLY AGAINST POWERFUL INNER DEMONS AND A LOT OF EXTERNAL ENEMIES:SOME WITH POWER OTHERS IN THE HEAP. AS WELL AND SO FAR TOO HAVE TO STRUGGLE AGAINST DAILY SUCKERS THAT IN ONE OR OTHER WAY EXTRACT FROM US RAW MATERIAL,SUBSTANCES FROM OUR BRAINS IN FORM OF THOUGHTS AS WELL THE PROYECTIONS OF OUR THOUGHTS; THEY ARE VAMPIRES NOT PRECISELY OF BLOOD BUT OUR FOREFRONT SWEAT. AND OBVIOUSLY THEY:THE ENEMIES USE TOO MACHINERY TO MOCK AND DESTROY BUT IN MODERN TIMES:COMPUTERS THE WEB,ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN ALL FORMS AND SHAPES THAT TAKE NOT ONLY OUR INTIMACY BUT THE INTIMACY OF OUR THOUGHTS "THE INNER INTIMACY" AND THIS IN DEVILISH MANNER. POLITICS ARE THE MOST EMBATLED NOWADAYS, RICH PEOPLE AND ALL PERSONS THAT HAVE SOMETHING TO ENVY LIKE GOOD WORK, GOOD FAMILY, GOOD AMBIENCE. KIRSTY YOU ARE ONE OF THE TARGET BUT DO NOT WORRY YOU ARE NOT ALONE THERE IS A HOST FIGHTING AGAINST.

Hi
You mention rollercoaster rides, I understand people pay for this level of excitement, (not for me though), however I am reminded of someone from history that once said something along the lines of 'if you are drowning you might reach for a snake...

A year from now we may long for the war as the peace will be terrible

best wishes
Bubbles

Ms. Flint displays rather a high opinion of herself describing, as she does, her own and other females' presence in the Cabinet as "window dressing".

The putative rebels must balance their potential series of attempts to dislodge Gordi against the mood of a popular electorate who are baffled at the in-fighting when the country needs everyone's attention on its economic re-shaping.

They'll probably give it one more try then leave it till their defeat at the General Election.

What are the thought processes of Purnell, Flint and Blears? Do they really see themselves re-surfacing as Ministers? Apparently Purnell sees himself as a future PM - STREWTH!!

If this was Argentina or Russia, NN would be classifying the week's happenings as an attempted coup. Why not here? Wouldn't the Queen or the C of E allow it to happen? Will the Royal Company of Archers come to the rescue of the nation - no, Siwawan will!

the media has been a bit The Day Today with their own agenda which is why they never ask those who are in fear what policy differences do they have with the current labour leadership?

given there is no alternative policy proposed nor any leader who champions a new policy and no evidence that any such leader would make any difference then what is really going on?

is it just people busted on expenses having a fit and indulging in personal self pity?

If Gordon was really a hollywood Captain Bligh then where is the Mr Christian?

Hi,
Question for Michael Crick, was the person he alluded to the other night as being a 'plotter' but not identified on your show, one of those who has left the cabinet, or do they remain 'hidden'?
By the way I know nothing about such things (maybe) but who are the beneficiaries of such off the record briefings? unless it's whistleblower stuff why do media outlets go along with it?
from 'interested' somewhere in the Home Counties (maybe)

best wishes
Bubbles

Ms Flint thought she was getting a high profile job...she didn't get it..she threw a strop. What monster ego's these people have, they should be pitied.

Gorden Brown would have us believe that he is not arrogant or condicending, but his attitude during the press confrence today was both, does he truly believe that he is 'the the best man for the job?' His attitude toward the problems of goverment seems to be one of 'out of sight, out of mind,' If he feels that he is the right man for the job and that he is doing what the public want to sort out of the goverment, then why doesn't he call a Genral Election and have his beliefs confirmed, or has he lost confidence as well as his ability to control the cabinet?

Re: "Should Gordon Go or Stay?"

Never have I heard so many ways of saying "yes" or "no" or both at the same time (they are MPs, after all).

Whils every body is focus on the expences and the resettling of the parties after the Elections, the issue of the EU has been swept aside. All the parties promised a referendom on Europe in their manifestos, but Labour has brazenly ignored it's own manifesto and signed the Lisbon treaty without consulting the majority of the British public. The fall out of this can be seen in the mulitpule strikes and protests over the use of forigen workers.

There is also the issue of imigration, why is it that the Gurkhas had to fight for their right to settle in this country, despite having severed, fought and died for this Nation, but religious extreemists are able to gain visas into the country with ease.

It is clear that the public has expressed it's opinion, it is now up to Labour and Gorden Brown to heed that call and grant a Genral Election.

9. yes its clearly ego rather than policy driven.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Wankel Rotary Engines/Grunties

Far more usefull than any Politician

Even Death Death Even Evens

EVEN

I have just watched the interview with Peter Hain & as usual an MP did not answer one question directly. I hoped that Newsnight would be above just letting politicians rant on with a party politics answer rather than give a direct answer. Very disapointed with you interviewer perhaps Mr Paxman would not have let this MP get away with this drivle and kept on at him until he answered the questions asked of him.

IT'S AN AMBITIOUS RAT THAT CLIMBS BACK ONTO A SINKING SHIP!

And now we have to listen to him doing loyalty like never before.

Caroline Flint was only ever window dressing and no more bright a bunny than Hazel Blears - just more hard-faced. They were very fortunate to have got to high office. No doubt working with Gordon Brown must have been difficult for flint on account Brown is not a fully fuctioning political leader (never has been) but the contents and tone of her resignation letter after only supporting Brown 24 hrs earlier was a disgrace and only gives an indication of the measure of the woman...a very nasty piece of work.

And before you accuse me of antiwomanism (is there such a word)..i still rate Kirsty Wark.. i never switch off when she's on..it must be them colourful tops, not bad for the more mature woman:)

Ye canna Spik yer MIND, Filter/Filtering Fit

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Flint

Perhaps I was too hard on her as an individual. No politician seems to be able to grasp the entirety of the challenges facing us. So they never deliver the appropriate solutions.

What politicians must realise is we have a finite extinction horizon rapidly approaching when ecological systems will collapse. If they will not take the appropriate action.

They must stand aside and allow those of us who know what to do to resolve the situation.

Celtic Lion

I FOUND THIS IN MY PONDERING FILE Dated: 1.3.08


Gordon Brown an acclaimed success has, somewhere in his past, forsaken his first given name: James; still cannot control, at 57, his nail-biting impulse, and routinely stutters under pressure. He was also observed to behave in an overtly immature way during years of 'close' association with Anthony Blair.
I suggest the above is a manifestation of 'success' all too common in todays Britain; significantly over-represented in the political classes and depressingly dominant in the upper echelons of political power.

From his constrained perspective, Brown has just delivered a speech extolling the drive to 'produce' more qualified (certificated) young persons. He sees compulsion, in various guises, and coercion, as his means to this end. His stated aim is to prepare the young for a life in the 'Global Economy'; a truncated life-qualification, specifically for 'doing stuff'.
Meanwhile, inside that other 'sphere of activity': Gordon's Head, there is unresolved turmoil that he pushes aside (as was his first name) and es-chews (like his nails) his resident childhood demons tormented by 'a life of success'. It seems he hopes that if he 'rescues' sufficient children, across the globe, his own 'unrescued child' might just tag along to a more comfortable place. But for all Gordon's self-acclaimed 'vision' he achieves no personal insight.

How sad that our culture elevates the driven and needy (remember Blair?) regardless of their inappropriate motivation. How unfortunate that Prime Ministers, routinely, have compliant lawyers, weasel-wordsmiths and creative accountants at their side, rather than a psychiatrist and a candid aide to say: "Remember you are not a God!"

Unless Brown awakes to the urgency of Britain's declining INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPETENCE (evidenced by drugs, alcohol, nihilism etc.) his policies will simply give us more nail-biting, self-de-naming, stuttering, juvenile failed-adults (or their equivalent) while filling dole-queues, gutters and prisons, far more readily than the prestigious posts he predicts. The only success we might then be sure of, is a copious supply of politicians. I am not unaware of his CBT initiative, but that is the application of psychological sticking plaster to a section of the unemployed, in an attempt to improve the figures, not a drive to give the recipients a viable whole life.

Such is the 'incestuous' nature of our political scene, that it PRE-SELECTS its own dogma-led acolytes to be offered to the nose-led voters for onward transit to Parliament, government and, in the extreme case, Prime Ministership. Westminster politics is a dark art that would not welcome the intrusion of the light that illuminates human failings, any more than it allows individuals of integrity and (oh the irony) HONOUR to impinge. Thus it is, that in spite of Britains undoubted prowess in the field of human psychology, politics persists in its dysfunction. Currently, the strange Westminster cabal - when not too busy fiddling money - are steering these islands to irreversible interment (internment?) in Europe, and stuffing their ears to the majority of 'democratically incensed' Britons, impotently bawling: 'NOT IN OUR NAME!'

Dated: 1.3.08 - all the more true today.

With all the aftermath of the local council elections, we seem to have lost sight of the other issues at hand. Expences, Econemy and the EU. All of the main parties promised a refferendum on their manifestos, but Labour have brazenly disreguarded this, and signed the Lisbon Treaty with out consenting the population and gaining a clear favourable majority on the issue.

If the Torries were to come to power in the near future, would they hold to their word, or would the follow the pressident set by Labour and decied what they feel is the better action with out the promised referendom.

Geraldine Smith - you're hired !

Kirsty Squawk - you're fired !

#20 Spik a wee bit O Doric

So more further North than me?

Celtic Lion

Post 25 that post has been removed. how far North do Eye Go

As Far North as I need 2

I was not aware, prior to posting, of the house rule concerning active elections . It certainly explains Post No 8(?)

I apologise.

Consequently I have made minor changes to my deleted Post 4 from yesterday and, in line with your e-mail, have resubmitted as we are now post election.

So .......

So Mr Brown seems, by the consensus of the hacks & rentaquotes, to still be on the edge of oblivion - or not. Take a gamble on which.

Were I to have 24k, to use for whatever purpose, I would be inclined to wager that Mr Brown will still be PM whenever he decides to call the election, wisely at the very last possible date.

As to why.,

Well ...........

It would suit the malingering people ( hereafter called MPs ) whom need someone to blame should the General Election prove to be the much predicted drubbing.

It would give something with which the media could fill masses of column inches and air-time using cheap labour in the form of the usual Ark of hacks & rentaquotes.

And it should give the authors, academics and nobodies plenty of dross to pad out the - most likely often unread - diaries, journal & tomes ( Which, upon publication, will automatically elevate said authors, academics and nobodies to the much revered telegenic guest list to which they so aspire . ( Conspiracy Theorists might argue that proof that this Roll Call List actually exists will be that the media will state categorically that it doesnt exist! ) To attempt cynicism ... Is it true that you can only be called to prospective job interview, across any of the media, if you pledge loyalty to this said list?

That said ...

From an apolitical standpoint .... I would like believe that Mr Brown would survive through until the GE simply on the basis of the reality that there is no one else up to the challenges of the financial apocalypse that we are suffering. ( Is it not worrying that the only other member - of either house - that has the capacity to be effective in these times has clearly stated that he will not forsake his political credibility to come to the aid of the ( another ) party!)

Were my beliefs become fact, and that the financial crisis be on the wane, would it not then be conceivable that Mr Brown still be the best - available - man to progress to the next stage?

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, ...... try to imagine another party chancellor at the Nations Till and not break into a panic attack?

What has been the most worrying of the last few days has been the way the media has gone to such lengths to make the Alps out of a molehill. Endless hours of comment innuendo and opinion with virtually nothing substantive. Endlessly proffered lynchings with little thought of context. Endless career path creation for the hackettes whom aspire to ....? Endless tape loops and recycled video imagery.

When, when, when will the media get back to responsible reporting and diligent investigation of the news instead of inventing, creating and rehashing it?

Whatever the outcome of both of todays elections MPs, hacks, rentaquotes, authors, academics and nonentities - Oops, left out the Poets - will still chase the appearance fee instead of looking for the obvious ....

Those that are out of touch are disengaged from those that have for so long have not been heard ......yet have no option now but to shout!

And, unlike some in the arena today, I do not feel scorned.

(And whom was that female MP on the multiscreen in tonights NN? Can we clone her 600 plus times? So, so, so refreshing to hear such straight talk!)

#22 Barrie



Synchronicity

Celtic Lion

For Brown to be a 'Stalinist' wouldn't he have needed a One-Party system, a strong Civil Service managing a well established Public Sector with control over the Means of Production etc? Instead we've have precisley the opposite for decades with Blair and Brown further implementing what Thatcher and Joseph accelerated, i.e an anarchistic free-market economy where he and his friends secured ever lighter-touch regulation. That's Trotsky, not Stalin.

As you went through lists of resigned and newly appointed Ministers, then various prominent Conservatives I noticed how as each appeared I thought only of the fiddles they had been involved in. There is barely anyone in the upper echelons of any party who has not been at it, or at least that's how it seemed as the names and pictures flashed up.

Whoever wins the next election we are going to have a bunch of very dubious people running this country. The trouble is that the whole world will know this. Imagine Cameron going to some high level conference to address fraud in the public sector or something similar. No one will be able to take him seriously. For now we're going to have people like Peter Hain, Brown and Darling. All tainted. How shameful for this country. Plus, given their appetite for passing laws that only affect the rest of us life in this country over the next few years will probably become even more unpleasant. Now they've got away with it once there will be no stopping them in the future.

I also noticed during the day that nearly every politician I heard was adressing how they personally would be affected by current events, not one thought for how the nation is suffering, and now we're getting more unelected Lords to govern who don't even have to bother about what the people think.

25 KingCelticLion

Try the Doric

Their Heads/Computers Explode/Implode

TURRA

COO

#31 dAllan169

U R milking that one

Joe Queenan's comments about Christian Bale being outshone in every film were lazy and unfocused. Although I agree with him about The Dark Knight (you'd have to be mad not to) he is totally disregarding: Empire of the Sun, American Psycho, Rescue Dawn, The Machinist, The Prestige and even Batman Begins. And also he only saw a trailer for 'Public Enemies' so how exactly does he know if he gets outshone by Johnny Depp? And that's not even taking into account that he plays a supporting role in that film anyway. Think about your comments before you make them Mr. Queenan before you diss an actor.

Thirty/Shirty/Sarky/2

BALLS/Cyrstal/UnBreakable/Black Angus

Milk them if u CAN/2 dare 2 adare

Try The Doric

the noo

wimmin

ye gods. kirsty and the sisterhood. i don't care if they are women are not. its the job that is important. it's just flint's ambition talking?

quite funny the papers do use on their front pages images of women as window dressing?

talk of decisions by the fees office again? it looks like the 'black box' of political morality?

Caroline Flint has made a fool of herself by speaking in high praise of the prime minister on the night of the local elections, only to publicly denounce his leadership the next day, after failing to get the promotion she had wanted. Why should anyone take her words seriously? Her immature behavior stupidly justified Gordon Brown's decision, even if he was in fact discriminating against women in the government.

WHAT JOB? APPEARANCES ARE ALL THAT MATTER

'Seriously' ;-, one would have thought that Caroline Flint would have got that gap between her front teeth sorted out long before now. She only has her self to blame for not being listened to, as how could any self-respecting female politician with such a gap between her front teeth ever be expected to be taken seriously? One can just imagine Brown saying "Hold on Caroline you ...woman.err...crumpet ..., anything that you have to say about Europe I can't possibly take seriously whilst you've still got that gap between your teeth." ;-)

(Jim Murphy is far more scary, he's also rather friendly with Israel - another reason to play down nasty nationalism?).

Speaking of .