大象传媒

Can a 0.5% contraction in the UK economy in a period of three months really be down to two weeks of snow?
Only the other week, post snow, NIESR were forecasting a 0.5% rise in growth over the quarter! As were most others to be fair, so what is going on?
Will Merv be tempted to crank up the printing presses again?
Most people I know are starting to feel the pinch as the 'temporary' inflation eats remorselessly into what is left of their salaries. We're all getting poorer and the good old consumer isn't going to be able to pull us out of this one...

I've got a good idea. Why don't you invite Ed Balls on so he can tell lies about what he's said, what he's done,
what he's supported, advocated and promised during the past 13 years? And make sure you don't challenge him on any of it no matter how fanciful he becomes.

And then you could ask Alistair Campbell his views on the phone-tapping saga. He'll have been off air for a couple of hours by them.

I thought the Jordan report was well and truely rebuked by the Jordainian guest and Kirsty wark looked lovely.
How is it some woman get better looking the older they get?

Economic growth stalled due to the snow. Jesus H, our economy is really on the edge if some snow can mess it up. So its not just British rail that comes up with these excuses. Next Autume: Crime figures are up due to a heavy fall of leaves.

so sorry to go on about Kirsty and her running of the programme but last night must have had NN viewers spitting with rage as to her running of the last segment of the programme, in a very overlong piece on Tunisia which was sleep inducing we then had an interview with a spokesman who went on and on and on with timid interjections from Lirsty as 'time was pressing on' and on and on he went, with no thought of finishing his boring often repeated rant about whatever. We missed the papers, the closing credits were rushed and all because of this spokesman who could bore for....Tunisia...thankfully I can switch over to News 24 for the papers at 11.20 but I prefer NN. Not good enough, consider yourselves told off!

DO NOT WORSHIP FALSE IDOLS!

Middle East peace talks leaks: Obama 'backed out of land promise to Palestinians'


'Confidential Palestinian documents leaked to Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television network, suggest that Mr Obama retreated from a promise that territory occupied by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967 should become the basis for a future Palestinian state.

The documents, part of a second tranche of the 鈥淧alestine Papers鈥� released by Al Jazeera on Monday evening, indicate that Mr Obama鈥檚 change of heart was the result of Israeli pressure.

That fact alone is likely to damage Mr Obama鈥檚 carefully-cultivated image as a friend of the Arab world.'

--------------------------------------------

Was Mr Obama brought to heel?

kevsey: indeed. On every point - except the Jordanian guest. I would tend to trust the retired, pro-govt servicemen, rather than a paid-up professional propagandist. But it IS worrying the growth in radical 'Islam' in these countries, but one can surmise that it is similar in nature to the growth in radicalism in UK liberation movements as well.

people are waking up to the multiple dangers we are ALL facing, and realising that without radical change, preferably peaceful, preferably through the ballot box, we are all truly shafted. Slowly, even our current so-called "elites" are getting that message too. No doubt some of them however will use this opportunity to try to bolster their position.

on growth rates - is ANYONE actually surprised?

Prime Minister David Cameron, strong Prime Ministers can fire their Chancellors when they fail, and change economic course. How much longer are you going to wait?

hades, if i was you i would even consider offering Ed Balls the job without the demand to change parties - if he took it (which he *might*, as the country is in such desperate plight), where would that leave Milliband.....? lol. :D

start thinking outside the box, PM, and start actually CARING for the British *millions* who are barely surviving on an annual income of well under 拢5000. They may not be your 'natural constituency', but they ARE also your citizens. We need growth in jobs, and that DOES NOT MEAN MORE TROLLEY-COLLECTING JOBS AT TESCOS.

its time for you to start actually following those ideas and posts of mine you cribbed from the NewStatesman for your election campaign last year. And I'm not the only one who noticed that.

get rid of Osborne, you might annoy the BBers, but you will have a chance to save your premiership. And more crucially, save GBLtd from bankruptcy.

YOU MENTIONED THE BALLOT BOX BUT DIDN'T GET AWAY WITH IT (#6)

Put not your trust in boxes Mork. Why would you - is it a reflex?

The ballot box collects votes from the faithful, gullible, tactical, illogical, and a minority of the capable. In consequence, parties collect obscene amounts of money for purposes of, deception, coercion, misdirection and obfuscation, prior to each General Election.

Universal suffrage (plus the ballot box) traps us in thrall to the Westminster Citadel.

Until Westminster is 'brought down' and its pernicious ethos replaced, we are mired. Voting should be confined to those who are proved competent (precisely as in other aspects of life) and parties outlawed (as with business cartels). Or there might be a better way - it cannot be hard to improve on what we have. WE can start now:

SPOILPARTYGAMES

OBAMA (#5)

Brought to heel? Some see him as a 'healer'. I think he was bought.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ERROR MESSAGES (#2)

My post 7 is supported by Maggiel at #2.

The ballot box, under the current system beloved of Westminster, has 'thrown up' Balls - and many more of his ilk. I watched Balls dodge, squirm and obfuscate in front of Andrew Neil today. It could have been any one of hundreds of them. In Westminster party-politics, you get to high office by mastering low skills. Nuff sed.

When these unlovely individuals reach the top, they draw to their side the likes of Alastair Campbell. Now just what attributes might you expect to find there? And so it came to pass...

Daily, weekly (weakly) monthly, yearly we watch - impotent. PMQs, Question Time, Daily Politics, Politics Show and last: NewsyNighty. On they troop, to perform their dark arts - overt and obvious - in a welter of unassailable claptrap. Then the election comes round AND IT GETS WORSE. Untouchable, under the ethos of the Westminster Citadel, THEY LIE TO US FOR VOTES.

The message is clear - Westminster is the problem. Make a start:

SPOILPARTYGAMES (Ask your MP if the voters voted rosette or 'stand'.)

..Lord Turnbull said that the cabinet was effectively not asked to approve the war until three days before fighting began....



tony better buy a ranch in texas where his friends are. he is unlikely to have many in the uk where he needs 24hr armed security to just move around? his uk book signings must have been the most expensive in world history?

VERILY - THREE TIMES BLAIR TOUCHED IS NOSE - HOW BIBLICAL (#10)

I watched and listened, intently, to the whole disgraceful charade. Time and again Blair brushed away the testimony of others - often with a ruse such as "I will have to check that" or "I am sure the Cabinet knew" etc.

Being on oath would have changed nothing - it is meaningless in courts also - but how I longed for Bob Marshall Andrews to have a little word of cross-examination with him . . .

Blair's intense concentration before answering was telling. It was so redolent of the chess Master CHOOSING THE BEST MOVE from a number of options. BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH.

There is clearly a deep-seated motivation in this man, that is not conducive to stability in the world. That he is installed as a global miracle-worker, says much about global insanity.

Small wonder chaos reigns.

12

barry the palestinian papers reveal we got another mi6 scandal. their blue and white socks are showing. see marks blog.

#6; Mork? Apologies but can't abide the New Statesman; it reminds me of my student days in the Seventies when we honest, lecture-going geeks would be accosted by boyzngels on the minimum grant - yes even rich people received grants then - in Afghan coats bought by Mummyndaddy, peddling said mag on the Union steps.I think Alistair Darling might have been one of them.

Anyway, because I don't read it, perhaps you could enlighten us as to the advice you proferred; also do you have suggestions as to where the "growth in jobs" could come from apart from supermarkets; I'm on nodding terms with a guy with learning difficulties who does in fact push trollies for one of them and he seems to like it. Seems better for him and for society, rather than sitting at home being paid Jobseekers allowance.

I take your point, however, and would ask for your suggestions in the spirit of an honest dialogue about the economy.

As for barrie, it really is time for you too to articulate - and I use the word advisedly - a picture of what you want to see once "partygames are spoiled".


Seems to me we will all bump along the bottom for the next five years at least; welcome to the Japanese experience - and they had Honda, Mitsubishi,Nissan...

There will be some smoke and mirrors deployed, of course, when thousands of NHS administrators are employed by the GP consortia thus boosting employment provided by the "private" sector; but that will be a temporary upward blip.

I advise people to seek out the excellent 大象传媒4 series "All Our Working Lives" which tells the stark truth about the British economy since the late nineteenth century; a tale of under-investment and naked short termist profit-taking boosted artificially by two disastrous world wars.

And it is still going on.

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

IS IT ME? (#13)

I have articulated my proposal (partially similar to Martin Bell's) so many times, that I am now folded infinitely small, and reach from earth to the moon.

PARTY POLITICS THRIVE IN WESTMINSTER. PARTIES PRE-SELECT CANDIDATES FOR 'PARTY ATTRIBUTES'. PARTIES MANIPULATE MINDLESSLY-ENFRANCHISED VOTERS. PARTIES PLAY GAMES.

SYMBOLICALLY ABANDON WESTMINSTER. PROHIBIT PARTIES. CANDIDATES SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED LOCALLY. INSTITUTE 'CERTIFICATE OF VOTING COMPETENCE'. ABSTENTION SHOULD BE A VOTING-OPTION.

Apologies to all you posters who know this already.

PRESUMABLY GPs WILL MOONLIGHT - LIKE SURGEONS? (#13)

Many who can afford private dentistry prefer it to the Cinderella NHS variety. GPs no longer do out-of-hours cover; it follows they will run a private service from home - for a good fee?

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

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

BAN KI-MOON DENIES 9/11 REALITY - NOW WHAT WOULD SIR HUMPHREY SAY? (#18)

Denial at that level sets the seal. How much longer before the dam breaks?

But has BKM taken even a few minutes to view the most conclusive material?

He cites the 3000 deaths. Precisely.

Nuff sed.

TORY LIES AND DUPLICITOUS BEHAVIOUR

This one's a must read.


Curb the banks? The government has propped them up at every opportunity


Here's the story of how Cameron and Osborne secretly tried and failed to kill tougher European rules on bankers' bonuses

Can Gavin Esler get any more snugly up the backside of Ed Balls?

You'd never think Reckless Ed left a wrecked economy.

When are the 大象传媒 going to realise that the Labour Party is no longer in power. I have just watched Ed Balls interviewed yet again for 5 minutes about the economy when he is not the Chancellor of the Exchequer, chances are he never will be Chancellor and he was directly responsible for the mess we are now in. It is irrelevant what he thinks or what he would do. He has no power and can do nothing. His views are only marginally of interest to offer an alternative view. He should be on after the government spokesperson and should be given less time to speak. We know what he'll say anyway. What is actually happening is what is important, not the views of yesterday's failures. We have enough failures today without adding in those of yesteryear.

Great to see Nigel Lawson on Newsnight tonight - one of the highlights in fact :o) Also enjoyed Stephanie's interview with Sorkin too.

Jackie Long's interview with Caster Semenya might have been calculated to hurt and humiliate rather than enlighten. In the face of repeated, insistent attempts to get Semenya to dwell on the curiosity and cruelty of the public, her fellow athletes, and the media about intimate personal details, Semenya was forced to repeatedly make the point that she is comfortable within herself and, by nature and policy, does not concern herself with the intrusive and impertinent questions of others. And how about that setting -- both sitting awkwardly on straight chairs, on an empty track, with the sun in Semenya's eyes? Please could we see, say, David Beckham sitting comparably on an empty rugby pitch, being asked awkward questions about his personal life over and over, and with no interest shown in his athletic performance?

13: kash: are you ready for some reading?

posting as "gnuneo" (ctrl-f to search quickly), 2 posts here:



of interest on this specific topic:


and:
/news/uk-scotland-11395734


comments again:



a good article on job creation, (+comment):


little on economics in this one, but just to show even i didn't expect the Tories to be as bad as they are:




actually, there are roughly 900-1000 comments by me on the NS, over a 2-4 year period, and unfortunately my bookmarks were lost, which makes it somewhat time-consuming to rediscover them. But there are innumerable micro-examples i could find, because of course not every post covers ALL the ground, the nature of on-line blog/commentary.

sorry, i could find more, but can't stay awake any longer.

-----

on tonight, the white elephant none of the interviewees mentioned was the likelihood of a raise in the interest rates. And what it would do.

its always extremely revealing when interviewees absolutely refuse to answer even repeated direct questions. Did Gavin almost have a Paxman-Moment last night? :D

on Redwood & Lawson: they argued that "Jobs are created by cutting taxes on the large Corporates" - which is funny really, as in the real world those companies don't even pay the taxes they are currently supposed to, and take the profits they make out of the UK to tax-havens.



so, as per usual, the top Tories are spinning a lie that is the exact opposite of economic reality.

"Trickle-down", all over again. 80s deja-vu on over-drive.

Lawson knows everything he said is all BS, but Redwood is the fanatical believer, the economics version of the suicide bomber.

these people make bin Laden look cuddly.


wanted to write more, too tired. Thought Gavin was unexpectedly good tonight, especially on the economics questions! :)

#26 M_H

"Trickle-down" prosperity looks like it's turning into trickle-up poverty!

Just thought I'd chuck this nugget in...



I knew from day one that PFI would cost us taxpayers a mint!

TOILET DOOR SYNDROME (#22)

I wrote on this way back . . . All mankind's attributes fall on a spectrum, and each must take their place (and lump it).

From IQ, through to (say) 'simple' height - via gender, we all differ in some degree.

Physiological cleverness is now too great for 'MALE - FEMALE' designation to persist; wisdom would surely decree that competitive sport should join all other arenas, and go for 'equality'?

FOOL OR KNAVE POLITICIANS - IS IT GENETIC? (#28)

Nice one Lizzy. As I have pointed out repeatedly: ALL Westminster parties pre-select MPs, primarily for attributes of servility and ambition. Might it be that 'the gene' for those two attributes also confers simple-mindedness in projecting future problems (as you did re PFI).

That's another reason to choose locally-sourced, independent, MPs OF INTEGRITY.

If nothing else, this would yield a more diverse 'gene pool' and healthier governance thereby.

SPOILPARTYGAMES

Mervy effectively says bonuses are only for bankers? the rest have to have pay freeze. no risk of the population relocating to singapore? The public tend to riot instead? Maybe riots is price worth paying?

rather than loans business would benefit from larger credit lines.