Brexit, for once some facts.

anotherkiwi

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How much worse is this internal Tory squabble going to get before something blows?
Methinks you know the answer... MUCH would be mine. The Tory party is a tabloid editors wet dream come true...
 
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anotherkiwi

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One of the Urban Myths is here
Concerning the doings (or not doings) of Cambridge Analytica regarding it's support (or not ) of the Leave EU Campaign.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-40423629/what-was-the-role-of-cambridge-analytica-and-psychographics-in-the-eu-referendum

On balance they look like a bunch of Con men, but there are questions as to whether work was carried out and not declared to answer.
There seems to be also a lot of altered versions of their position on the matter too.
And of course whether what they are selling is "Snake Oil"
If as they say a thing sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

It's not so much that I doubt propaganda works, I am just suspicious that they have the statistical and analytical skills to manipulate the public in a short time.

Like a tree Propaganda needs time to grow, and these characters claim to be able to bottle it and produce results on demand, which would make Hypnotism seem pretty crude by comparison.

In principle manipulation by means hidden from the victim is of course insidious and sinister, even if the effect is simply to con large fees from those who want to employ it to gain an unfair advantage over opposition, and exploit their Gullibility.
Morally the idea is bankrupt., but a nice little earner.

No wonder it appeals to the Far Right, it is like something out of 1984.
Look around you. See all those zombies eyes glued to their smart phone? Does that help you understand that modern propaganda is much more dangerous than the old flavour?

Those big data manipulators scare me silly. They are only in it for proof of concept, they don't care whether the extreme right or men from mars pay for their work, they just want to see if it works. And they have done so. Twice...
 

oldgroaner

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Look around you. See all those zombies eyes glued to their smart phone? Does that help you understand that modern propaganda is much more dangerous than the old flavour?

Those big data manipulators scare me silly. They are only in it for proof of concept, they don't care whether the extreme right or men from mars pay for their work, they just want to see if it works. And they have done so. Twice...
So you believe it works? Whilst I accept the possibility, I'm not convinced.
Nevertheless it is a worrying development.
 
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oldgroaner

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A word from the idiot in charge of defence courtesy of the Daily Mail
"
Britain could launch air strikes to respond to cyber attacks, warns Fallon after hackers target parliament
  • Defence Secretary warns that UK is ready to use force to respond to hackers
  • Says Britain has a 'full spectrum' of retaliation available to counter cyber attacks
  • Comments follow the recent assault on network at the Houses of Parliament

The Kid in his Mothers's Basement has promised he won't do it again. and Mr Putin is reputed to be recovering from the hernia he suffered convulsing with laughter after reading this, quite well thank you very much.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

Groucho Marx
 
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Woosh

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TM should keep Fallon in a broom closet.
 
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Zlatan

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And it passed under the Bridges too!

Am I allowed to ask this?
What is it for?
Sorry, I suppose I shouldn't ask questions like that.
Perhaps you should ask Gordon Brown and Lord West of Spithead that question. (Both staunch labour,of a sort)
Brown gave go ahead on building the ships ( there is a second somewhere)
It was said at time Brown gave go ahead to create jobs in Scotland. Tories inherited this shambles..
Brown who sold the pot of gold...under Blair who started all the conflict...and we wonder why we,ve had Tory rule for so long???
I don't think even the excuse for a chancellor Osborne would have sanctioned such a colossal waste of money.
The Blair/ Brown administration will reverberate for years yet...its probably why Labour are not in power now, well that and the movements complete swing other way to JC...
 
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oldgroaner

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Perhaps you should ask Gordon Brown and Lord West of Spithead that question. (Both staunch labour,of a sort)
Brown gave go ahead on building the ships ( there is a second somewhere)
It was said at time Brown gave go ahead to create jobs in Scotland. Tories inherited this shambles..
Brown who sold the pot of gold...under Blair who started all the conflict...and we wonder why we,ve had Tory rule for so long???
I don't think even the excuse for a chancellor Osborne would have sanctioned such a colossal waste of money.
Just why are you asking me?
If you recall I NEVER EVER voted for NEW LABOUR
But then I have to ask the rather obvious question Why did the Tory party not put a stop to it?
How many years have they been in power?
You can't have it both ways, can you?
 
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Zlatan

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The project was well established by time Tories took over rule.
You asked the question " What is it for?"
To get an answer you need to ask the Admirals who requested it and the administration that sanctioned it. Quite obvious really.( I think West was secuirity minister at time but had been admiral campaigning for their building)

Simple fact is it was a Labour administration that made worst decisions in our last 30 years. We are all paying price now both directly ( conflict ) and indirectly ( tory rule). Unfortunately the last labour government proved itself totally incapable of running country, we are simply now waiting for Tories to prove same,which to be fair they have almost achieved, but not quite yet. They have a hard act to follow in incompetence. Infact Blair was beyond incompetent, he was criminal.
 
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Woosh

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oldgroaner

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The project was well established by time Tories took over rule.
You asked the question " What is it for?"
To get an answer you need to ask the Admirals who requested it and the administration that sanctioned it. Quite obvious really.( I think West was secuirity minister at time but had been admiral campaigning for their building)

Simple fact is it was a Labour administration that made worst decisions in our last 30 years. We are all paying price now both directly ( conflict ) and indirectly ( tory rule). Unfortunately the last labour government proved itself totally incapable of running country, we are simply now waiting for Tories to prove same,which to be fair they have almost achieved, but not quite yet. They have a hard act to follow in incompetence. Infact Blair was beyond incompetent, he was criminal.
Some days you lose sight of reality completely
Firstly it was the Bankers that crashed the economy and many feel that Brown actually prevented the damage being worse.

But that is by the bye, as New Labour was a Tory light party not a Socialist one
Got that? same policies, same mistakes, why do you keep making the same mistake every time you post?

New Labour was a bunch of Charlatans that used the mantle of being a pseudo socialist party to hijack the support of Labour's traditional voters to get into power, it's conservative credentials were right wing enough to make it just about acceptable to the 1% elite as it gave to the electorate an illusion that we are not in reality living in a one party state.

They were a Confidence Trick and swindle, Nothing more, nothing less
In no way is socialism descredited by their Tory light policies.

The last truly Labour Government gave us the NHS and rebuilt the country at the end of the second world war, no way can you spin that with your thinly disuised right wing bias.
Come off it Zlatan, you are no socialist are you? far from it!
 
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oldgroaner

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one rare time I took a peek at the Express, all because it says something about the divorce negotiation may last beyond 2019.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/822196/Brexit-news-key-Juncker-aide-swipe-unprepared-British-negotiating-team

There is a poll on the page:

Will the UK get what it wants from brexit talks?
7.5k votes, 58% yes, 42% no.

I did not quite expect this poll result - Is the Express prepare public opinion for a soft brexit?
It's just risen to 43% no, but the press will as I said before convince it's gullible public that a BIGLY victory has been won against the Evil Bullying EU
 
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oldgroaner

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one rare time I took a peek at the Express, all because it says something about the divorce negotiation may last beyond 2019.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/822196/Brexit-news-key-Juncker-aide-swipe-unprepared-British-negotiating-team

There is a poll on the page:

Will the UK get what it wants from brexit talks?
7.5k votes, 58% yes, 42% no.

I did not quite expect this poll result - Is the Express prepare public opinion for a soft brexit?
They do seem to be edging away from the previously agreed right wing line, don't they?
 
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Zlatan

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Some days you lose sight of reality completely
New Labour was a Tory light party
Got that? same policies, same mistakes, why do you keep making the same mistake every time you post?
New Labour was a bunch of Charlatans that used the mantle of being a pseudo socialist party to hijack the support of Labour's traditional voters.
Nothing more nothing less
In no way is socialism descredited by their Tory light policies.
The last truly Labour Government gave us the NHS and rebuilt the country at the end of the second world war, no way can you spin that with your thinly disuised right wing bias.
Come off it Zlatan, you are no socialist are you? far from it!
Perhaps not, but I was never going to vote Lib Dem, like some were.

You can call Blair admin whatever you want but it was voted in as Labour and unfortunately , as anyone who knows anything about Labour, for some odd reason Blair still has a massive following within the party.
If not supporting JC or Blair stops me being a socialist, well so be it.
To my mind JC is simply an over reaction to Blair, without Blair JC would be a simple minority " loony left".
As it is IMO the lunatics have taken over the asylum in Labour, and its why they lost the last election.
OG, a person can still be a socialist and not support the two extremes of it.
But all that is irrelevant, to answer your original question of what are the two Aircraft Carriers for ?
To promote Scottish economy and reduce unemployment there and probably carry a few American planes to go and bomb somebody.

And ofcourse Blair tarnished labour movement. Its the only time I,ve been ashamed of supporting an individual and voting labour.
 
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oldgroaner

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From the independent
"
Grenfell Tower cladding scandal could cost councils millions after Government says no guarantee of extra funding
‘There is no way we can afford to reclad our tower blocks. If we have to find that money, it will come from other projects’

Here is a practial suggestion, why not sell the two aircraft carriers to the Americans rather than provide them for for their use for free?
We cant afford to either use them, equip them and protect them at sea.
It wouldn't cost the Americans too much to rip out the dodgy Gas Turbines and install Atomic power, would it?

That should easily cover the cost
Perhaps not, but I was never going to vote Lib Dem, like some were.

You can call Blair admin whatever you want but it was voted in as Labour and unfortunately , as anyone who knows anything about Labour, for some odd reason Blair still has a massive following within the party.
If not supporting JC or Blair stops me being a socialist, well so be it.
To my mind JC is simply an over reaction to Blair, without Blair JC would be a simple minority " loony left".
As it is IMO the lunatics have taken over the asylum in Labour, and its why they lost the last election.
OG, a person can still be a socialist and not support the two extremes of it.
But all that is irrelevant, to answer your original question of what are the two Aircraft Carriers for ?
To promote Scottish economy and reduce unemployment there and probably carry a few American planes to go and bomb somebody.

And ofcourse Blair tarnished labour movement. Its the only time I,ve been ashamed of supporting an individual and voting labour.
What, again? who cares about Blair, why do you keep going on about him? is this an obsession?
What happened to the holier than thou we mustn't insult people ?
How does that Gel with
"As it is IMO the lunatics have taken over the asylum in Labour, and its why they lost the last election."
"To my mind JC is simply an over reaction to Blair, without Blair JC would be a simple minority " loony left".
You really must learn to be consistent and practice what you preach.

Describing Corbyn as "loony left" pretty much shows how little you understand what are really very moderate and rational policies
 
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flecc

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Here is a practial suggestion, why not sell the two aircraft carriers to the Americans rather than provide them for for their use for free?
We cant afford to either use them, equip them and protect them at sea.
It wouldn't cost the Americans too much to rip out the dodgy Gas Turbines and install Atomic power, would it?
There's no chance of that, they are too small for the USA who prefer larger catapult launch carriers, not these smaller jump ramp types.

And conversion to a nuclear power plant is almost certainly impossible. Those have to be designed with a large access removable area to lift out the whole power plant as one unit for swapping when the fuel has run out at 10 or 20 years, depending on the version.

The possibility of selling the second one has been explored but it seems no-one is interested, not even the expanding Chinese military. Eventually both will probably end up as floating museums or hotels in other parts of the world, or maybe offshore prisons.
.
 
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