[Messianic Trees]

Only just spotted this:

The knowing in-jokes of the Westminster bubble are the real omnishambles

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1uGDeAsqQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

['Omnishambles' is] a word coined by the most celebrated character from The Thick of It, the Labour spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.

And it's a great word, meaning many things going wrong at the same time, or multiple examples of incompetence.

But it's an in-joke. A nod to the fact that everybody inside the Westminster bubble all goes home and watches the same thing on TV.

Yet, for the past month, politicians (desperate to appear witty or 'cool' )and commentators have been falling over themselves to say 'omnishambles' in public.

At Prime Minister's Questions by Ed Miliband, on Question Time, the Today programme...

In the past 24-hours alone, I've heard it used by Harriet Harman, and at least two BBC presenters.

Now let's have a look at an example of how the word was used in The Thick of It, in a scene where Tucker is addressing a hapless minister. (Turn away now if you don't like to see an asterisk or two).

'Oh, well that's great. That's f****** great. That's another f****** thing, right there. Not only you've got a f****** bent husband and a f****** daughter that gets taken to school on a f****** sedan chair, you're also f****** mental! Jesus Christ, see you, you are a f****** omni-shambles, that's what you are. You're like that coffee machine, you know, "From bean to cup, you f*** up.'

Not really family viewing in your ordinary living room, with the children by your side, is it?

Which brings me, finally, to the reason why I've been getting so irritated by hearing 'omnishambles' tumbling out of the mouths of Mr Miliband, Ms Harman and others.

Trust in politicians is very close to an all-time low. They need to talk to the voters. Show they understand their lives.

Instead they talk only to one another, making jokes and references intended only for themselves and the inhabitants of the Westminster village.

And then then they wonder why two out of three people didn't bother to turn out and vote

From the comments:

What a surprise - Lefties use a word devised in a Lefty BBC programme - well they would, wouldn't they - they don't have a decent original idea in their heads, nothing but dogma.
- Barking Spider, UK, 05/5/2012 22:58

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Bwahahahahaha!

[Fozzy]

Oh, for God's sake. I've never watched The Thick of It, but guess what, I didn't find it too difficult to work out what it means in this context. It's also a great term for what this government is doing, and I've now heard it being used way outside the Westminster village and indeed by people who couldn't conceivably be described as left wing. Face it, Slacky, the only reason you don't like it is that it is too accurate.

[Bones McCoy]

Perhaps James, and the mail's target demographic would prever the USA version.

Clusterfuck

[Messianic Trees]

Dinosaurs, pensions and a refusal to join the real world

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1uXdj5u9F" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mr Serwotka took to the airwaves earlier to object to the government's efforts 'to divide people in the public and private sector' – a reference to the argument that it's not fair to expect people in the wealth-creating private sector to fund pensions they can no longer afford for themselves.

Last year, it emerged that this 'radical socialist' will be able to retire in luxury after having more paid into his pension pot each year (£26,159) than his members’ average salary (£22,850).

The changes being proposed by the government are not about dividing the public and private sector. They are a hard–headed response to the fact that society is getting older and money does not grow on trees.

But, if you live in Mr Serwotka's gilded world, why on earth would you bother to even try to understand that?

From the comments:

Again if the public sector jobs pay is so great and pensions wonderful why do you all not apply for jobs in this wonderful public sector??? Because the work is thankless, bogged down in government induced paper work and let's be honest the majority is poorly paid. You can't compare public and private pay by averaging out as lie paid kids type jobs Mc Donald's etc don't exist in the public sector so it gives false results but since when had the DM been concerned with accurate reporting
- bob, leaving as soon as I can, 10/5/2012 22:12

Any chance of James Slack publishing his own pension details?
- AK, Sheffield, England., 10/5/2012 23:07

[Messianic Trees]

Why Michael Gove must not fail to axe Labour's hated Human Rights Act: JAMES SLACK offers 15 reasons

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3ZqLK7wIU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[youngian]

Its hard to gauge if he knows what he's talking about but its very worrying if he does

No single decision based on the European Convention on Human Rights – enshrined in British law by the Human Rights Act – sparked more horror than Strasbourg’s 2006 finding that axe-killer John Hirst and thousands of other convicts should be entitled to vote in UK elections. Ministers have since fought an ongoing battle to avoid implementing the judgment – which David Cameron says makes him feel physically sick.

Perhaps he should have read the judgement instead of being sick. Cameron only has to implement minimal voting rights that would hardly be any different to people on early release voting to respect the judgement. Which was a point of principle about taking away the franchise which opens the way for governments to detain people in order to deprive the franchise. I've never been sure why you'd want to deprive people who will be released at some point from acting like a responsible citizens (which they haven't in the past that's why they're in nick). Are they going to vote for the File in the Cake Party?

Al Qaeda fanatic Abu Qatada was awarded £2,500 for being ‘unlawfully detained’, after being held indefinitely without trial following September 11.

In order to quell that one you would have to make unlawful detention legal.

Aso Mohammed Ibrahim left 12-year-old Amy Houston to die ‘like a dog’ under the wheels of his car after knocking her down in 2003 while disqualified from driving.
Twice refused asylum, the Iraqi was never removed from the country by the Home Office and then, after the killing, was allowed to stay under the Human Rights Act because he had fathered two children in Britain, which judges ruled gave him a right to a ‘family life’.

So he received the same punishment as everyone else for the crime.

George Blake was jailed for 42 years, one for each of the MI6 agents he sent to their deaths. The Soviet spy escaped from Wormwood Scrubs and wrote his memoirs in Russia. Incredibly, he was given £4,700 by Strasbourg in 2006 because Britain breached his right to free expression by trying to stop him making money from the book.

So they must mean the government wants arbitrary powers to ban books

And so on and I'm just picking flaws off the top of my head with little research.

I'm sure the Mail is particularly keen seeing this nonsense stamped out

A Yorkshire civil servant who was filmed in an orgy with four men was given £33,000 in compensation.

I was debating this with some Tory twat on Facebook who became more and more angry as his arguments were picked apart after his little knowledge ran out of road. This was his parting comment

Neal O'Kelly
Your contempt for the UK Parliament (elected by the people of Britain) speaks volumes. Have you considered spending a day or two outside London, and talking to some ordinary people?

[The Red Arrow]

I note it's Labour's HRA, when actually it recieved cross-party support. Another one that's going to take hold with the gullible.

[cycloon]

Its hard to gauge if he knows what he's talking about but its very worrying if he does

No single decision based on the European Convention on Human Rights – enshrined in British law by the Human Rights Act – sparked more horror than Strasbourg’s 2006 finding that axe-killer John Hirst and thousands of other convicts should be entitled to vote in UK elections. Ministers have since fought an ongoing battle to avoid implementing the judgment – which David Cameron says makes him feel physically sick.

This is just flat out incorrect. It's up to the UK government how to implement it. Argue how you want about the rights and wrongs, but what Slack says here is fundamentally wrong.

[The Red Arrow]

https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk ... -act-myths" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk ... graphicjpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;