Still not biting.

Hadn't seen that, interesting..... So it's rudderless and drifting then? Much like the Labour party .....

...much better than having a rudder hit by a torpedo and circling nowhere. With Nickerless Clegg, that's all the Lib-Dems are, Bismarck waiting to be sunk!

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I like the BBC news because they have excellent technology and sceince news.

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[/quote]

Old James

Hadn't seen that, interesting..... So it's rudderless and drifting then? Much like the Labour party .....

Yesterdays Independent. BBC accused of political bias – on the right, not the left

The BBC used to be the world's most unbiased reporter, but these days it is slanting towards the left. The trouble is that these days, too many fingers are in too many political pies. If you can control public thoughts by feeding them what you want them to hear, you become very powerful.

A fascinating set of figures here on UK Newspaper readership. At first glance it would seem that no wonder the country is in the mess it is in when you see that the top three are the Sun, The Mail, and the Mirror. But look a litle more closely and you will see that their readerships have seriously declined over the last 10 years, as indeed all papers have. A lot of this is of course due to the Internet where people can get breaking world news on the move 24/7. Why wait until 9am to read what went to press at 1am?

I would also like to think that people are getting fed up with reading trashy tabloid headlines, but I'm probably clutching at straws. But the point that I want to make is that at present we have too many Newspapers controlled by one person or corporation. If the public are moving over to online news agencies, who controls all them? And how biased are they?

Newspapers

Here in the states it used to be that you could only own so many TV, radio, and Newspapers in one geograhical area. Some time in the 70's or 80's That law was changed. ( no doubt due to the politicans getting some campainge money) So the end result is big media corparations taking over whole regional markets.
Comcast is buying out Time Warner cable. I bet we dont see a reduction in the monthly bill. Or more TV channels or better internet. I do bet we see more one sided news though.
My local paper is down to 3 days a week for the printed version. Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
I dont know about anyone else But I love reading the Sunday paper.I read the whole thing. No I dont read every article, Just the ones that interest me. I like how its not just a blurb on a website but a full blown article.
I will sit and enjoy myself reading that paper for 5 or 6 hours.
internet news is still young. I do read news on my cell phone. My favorite is the BBC.

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[/quote]

Old James

A fascinating set of figures here on UK Newspaper readership. At first glance it would seem that no wonder the country is in the mess it is in when you see that the top three are the Sun, The Mail, and the Mirror. But look a litle more closely and you will see that their readerships have seriously declined over the last 10 years, as indeed all papers have. A lot of this is of course due to the Internet where people can get breaking world news on the move 24/7. Why wait until 9am to read what went to press at 1am?

I would also like to think that people are getting fed up with reading trashy tabloid headlines, but I'm probably clutching at straws. But the point that I want to make is that at present we have too many Newspapers controlled by one person or corporation. If the public are moving over to online news agencies, who controls all them? And how biased are they?

Newspapers

Well gee there is LINUX thats free to the world. Why dosent the planet use it?

Difficult to use and a lot of applications don't run on it. Or at least, thats the perception most people have of Linux.

Chris you posted

I would be delighted to see it taken out of private hands and "nationalised" by the UN, and operated for the benefit of the people not Microsoft.

I did not know you were a socialist.

I am not. My politics are centre leaning towards centre right. I detest the left wing and trade unionists.

In a civilised western world we should be entitled to expect the following basics.

* Fresh potable water at a tap
* Gas supplies
* Electricty at a switch
* Telephones
* Affordable Public transport
* Sewage system

Unless of course you live remotely out in the sticks when you may have to use bottled gas, springs, generators, cesspits etc. In the UK at least, we also have a free at source NHS system. It is my opinion that the State should provide those services as basic requirements for modern living, and that they should be non profit organisations for the benefit of the general public. What we have at present is the whole damn lot sold of to private enterprise who are only interested in making profits for their shareholders, to the detriment of the general public.

THAT IS WRONG IN PRINCIPLE!

I would also take that one stage further and say that in the 21C the modern western world should also be able to have a computer system that works at cost price, as a basic necessity. Therefore I would advocate Microsoft being taken out of profit making private hands, and run by a world body for the benefit of the worlds people.

Well gee there is LINUX thats free to the world. Why dosent the planet use it?

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[/quote]

Old James

Chris you posted

I would be delighted to see it taken out of private hands and "nationalised" by the UN, and operated for the benefit of the people not Microsoft.

I did not know you were a socialist.

I am not. My politics are centre leaning towards centre right. I detest the left wing and trade unionists.

In a civilised western world we should be entitled to expect the following basics.

* Fresh potable water at a tap
* Gas supplies
* Electricty at a switch
* Telephones
* Affordable Public transport
* Sewage system

Unless of course you live remotely out in the sticks when you may have to use bottled gas, springs, generators, cesspits etc. In the UK at least, we also have a free at source NHS system. It is my opinion that the State should provide those services as basic requirements for modern living, and that they should be non profit organisations for the benefit of the general public. What we have at present is the whole damn lot sold of to private enterprise who are only interested in making profits for their shareholders, to the detriment of the general public.

THAT IS WRONG IN PRINCIPLE!

I would also take that one stage further and say that in the 21C the modern western world should also be able to have a computer system that works at cost price, as a basic necessity. Therefore I would advocate Microsoft being taken out of profit making private hands, and run by a world body for the benefit of the worlds people.

I think at the next election i'll write all my local candidate's names on post-its, and then throw a dart.

Nah, just go into the voting booth and throw a wobbly, like everyone else :-))

[Moan time]

Jaguar has announced it is to build its XJ saloon car in India, but the company's chief executive has told the BBC he is "absolutely committed" to manufacturing cars in Britain. Ralf Speth said the key to Jaguar's success was its "Britishness". The XJ will become the third model from the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) group to be built in India, following on from the Jaguar XF and the LandRover Freelander.

JLR has been owned by the Indian corporate giant Tata since 2008. It has identified India as one of its key growing markets. "We do have a parent company that is Indian and without this parent company, JLR wouldn't exist," said Mr Speth.

Jaguar

Why did the British Government allow such a British Icon of a firm to go to the Far East anyway? It's bad enough having Rolls Royce owned by BMW, and Bentley owned by VW as it is. Bah humbug.

[/Moan Time]

I think at the next election i'll write all my local candidate's names on post-its, and then throw a dart.

Just wanted to save you from five...

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Expelled

Vote rigging

Right, well, lets carry on with the existing coalition then.


(4 in a row and counting ...)

Gang link

Manifesto

Not looking too good. The truth is they have gone as far as they can go as a protest party. If they don't sort these things out, they won't present much of a threat to anyone in 2015, and could even lose a lot of their current position. It is traditional in a government's mid term to have a protest vote that says 5/10 must do better, that keeps them on their toes. In the run up to an Election, protest votes will reflect the proposed manifestos. If we didn't have UKIP you'd have to invent them! Once the Election has been and gone, their job is finished until mid term again. Unless of course a general election gets triggered by other means.

After the Fixed-term Parliament Act was passed on 15 September 2011, the date of the next general election is set as 7 May 2015. The Act provides for general elections to be held on the first Thursday in May every five years. There are two provisions that trigger an election other than at five year intervals:

1. A motion of no confidence is passed in Her Majesty's Government by a simple majority and 14 days elapses without the House passing a confidence motion in any new Government formed

2. A motion for a general election is agreed by two thirds of the total number of seats in the Commons including vacant seats (currently 434 out of 650)

Neither is likely to happen, but we did have two General Elections in 1974 because of Wilson's minority government. I doubt Cameron or Milliband would want to take that path again. That is why I still believe the Lib Dems have a vital part to play in Government.

Well well, what a surprise, I would never have thought it .....

Of course they damn well do!

'ello me 'ol sparring partner :-)

...and he ain't the only one either, add another 99.9999999999% of the population
and well?...it doesn't look too good does it!!

Nope! But I do try ..... thankless task though.

p.s....you scored a full 100% regarding French grub...

Well, I do hear tell that out in the provinces, French farmhouse cooking is quite different to Avante-garde city restaurants. Not yet had a chance to try it, so I'll keep an open mind until then.

Hehehe that is how it is supposed to be :-) Cameron can be asked anything at PMQ, he will always sidestep it by starting off with "What this government has done .....", then end up with "They don't want to hear it Mr Speaker. Listen to what their shadow Chancellor said last year, he said this ....". Farrage is a well meaning amusement, but he hasn't a real clue as to how politics really works.

...and he ain't the only one either, add another 99.9999999999% of the population
and well?...it doesn't look too good does it!!

p.s....you scored a full 100% regarding French grub...

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

Hehehe that is how it is supposed to be :-) Cameron can be asked anything at PMQ, he will always sidestep it by starting off with "What this government has done .....", then end up with "They don't want to hear it Mr Speaker. Listen to what their shadow Chancellor said last year, he said this ....". Farrage is a well meaning amusement, but he hasn't a real clue as to how politics really works.

One of the things i like about Farrage, he doesn't seem afraid to voice an opinion (even if that opinion may make him unpopular with some) and usually gives fairly straight answers to questions. If he's being interviewed on the Today programme i listen, because i know he'll answer the question being asked of him.
Compare that to a Labour/Tory/LD MP, trying to get a straight answer out of them is like trying to nail a poppadom to a gazelle.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.