doublesaint

From todays news, a colliery in West Midlands is to break the record for annual production of coal, and other expansion/exploration projects are being carried out now or in the pipeline. So far so good, yet one downturn is that the profits of a national asset will be going to European private companies mostly, maybe it is time for renationalisation, after all if we can do it for the banking industry in effect, why not here? Then perhaps have the completely radical idea of turning this country back into a major manufacturing base, instead of a nation/society built on the absurdities of stock market trading and quick profiteering.

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America need not be a net importer of oil, if the politicians from both sides agreed to develop/licence existing blocks off the US coast.

I know there are a fair few gamblers on here( and where is the gambling forum btw???), after 5 weeks hard slog at work I have my tickets for this on the 15th, looking forward to going to my favourite course when I get back. Has anyone been to this meeting before, just wondering how busy it gets compared to the festival.

Or full and unfettered access by right wing christian fundamentalists who supported Bush, which leads to an uneducated population...... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/28/us-education-election-obama-bush-mccain

Well he would have to have a sense of humour to support Raith Rovers.

Dat politics iz boring innit, unless you iz one, and dat iz well unsafe......da Blears ***** wanna make it easier to become an MP, even if you is a single muvver......

No, you would probably find a sympathetic ear amongst these people from Randolph, Utah which voted the highest per capita vote for Republican party in 2004....... "It ain't over yet," declared Max Wilson, a 66-year-old cattleman. "I don't know much about Obama but I don't like what I do hear. He hasn't got the experience and I really don't believe this country is ready for a black man as president. I think that when it comes to the crunch a lot of people will think again rather than elect him." There were further nods and grunts of assent when Mr Wilson rolled out a litany of dire predictions for life under a Democrat administration. "If Obama pulls all our troops out from Iraq, those terrorists are all going to head over here pretty quickly," he said. "And another thing I hear is that a lot more of our tax money will be going to Africa if he gets in. His father's from there, you know." "Most everyone around here has firearms and like to shoot and we don't trust the Democrats," lamented Mr Thomson. "They don't come right out and declare they are going to take our guns away, but we know they have their secret agenda." Roger Telford, 75, who ranches 250 head of cattle and some horses on family land where he has worked since he was a child, added: "All Obama can do is talk. Well, talk is cheap around here, let me tell you. "I was in the military so I've been around black people. It's not his colour that's a problem for me, it's the people he associated with." Another added: "I guess they'll be stocking up on black paint for the White House." On the two-hour drive from Salt Lake City last week, a religious radio station was earnestly discussing whether the current financial meltdown was a sign of the apocalypse and making comparisons between the US today and 5th century Rome before it was sacked by barbarian hordes. So can't imagine they will be having much of a party in Randolph today then.....

As seen from the US elections, people can be wholly engaged in the political process, which is something that is amiss in the UK, though irrespective of your political viewpoint, this speech from Hazel Blears sums up a lot of what is wrong in my opinion and a few decent solutions as well. Article from todays online Guardian... Corrosive cynicism, fuelled by politically nihilistic blogs and a retreat from dispassionate reporting, is endangering British political discourse, Hazel Blears, the communities secretary, will tell a Hansard Society conference today on growing political disengagement in Britain. She will lambast the growth of a hermetically-sealed professional political class and call for a support network on the lines of the political women's action group Emily's List to help more people from ordinary careers into full-time politics. In a hard-hitting speech, she will warn that the fall in turnouts among working class voters in some British cities is now so marked that it amounts to a reversal by stealth of 19th century reforms that spread the franchise. Blears contrasts the apparent collapse of interest in British politics with the surge in turnout in the US elections. All political parties will have to learn how to use the web as a campaign and fundraising tool, she will say, and how to engage ethnic minority groups and the working class. "We are witnessing a dangerous corrosion in our political culture," she says. In part she will blame "a shrinking and increasingly competitive newspaper market" which demands more "impact" from its reporting - the translation of every political discussion into a row, every difficulty a crisis, every rocky patch for the prime minister into the "worst week ever". She will, however, also turn her fire on some political bloggers. "Perhaps because of the nature of the technology, there is a tendency for political blogs to have a 'Samizdat' style. The most popular blogs are rightwing, ranging from the considered Tory views of Iain Dale, to the vicious nihilism of Guido Fawkes. Perhaps this is simply anti-establishment. Blogs have only existed under a Labour government. Perhaps if there was a Tory government, all the leading blogs would be left-of-centre? "But mostly, political blogs are written by people with disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy. "Until political blogging 'adds value' to our political culture, by allowing new voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair." She will also warn that the development of career politicians is making ordinary people feel excluded. "Increasingly we have seen a 'transmission belt' from university activist, MP's researcher, thinktank staffer, special adviser, to MP, and ultimately frontbench. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but it is deeply unhealthy for our political class to be drawn from narrowing social base and range of experience." Politics needs "more people who know what it is to worry about the rent collector's knock, or the fear of lay-off," she will say, "so that the decisions we take reflect the realities people face. In short, we need more Dennis Skinners, more David Davises, more David Blunketts in the front line." She will propose an Emily's List-style programme to help people in ordinary jobs win nominations, and highlight proposals to decentralise power and increase community engagement, including her idea for communities to help draw up council budgets. She will say that if voting trends were to continue as at present: "We will see a politics which increasingly speaks with a middle-class, middle England accent, and the people with the most to gain from democratic politics - the poorest and most vulnerable - being the ones least likely to be involved in it." Academics at the conference are expected to criticise the government's constitutional reform programme as merely passing power from one elite to another and one paper is due to warn that Blears' plans to encourage civic engagement at local level will only raise false expectations.

Internally it does not bother me too much which party won the election but from an international viewpoint it would seem to be a far safer option to elect a party who appears willing to converse with other states and ideologies who don't necessarily conform to the way America wish them to be. As for Al Qaeda I actually think that was a big smokescreen for the previous administration to get morally unsound policies made law, such as the Patriot Act, no access to lawyers and forced rendition or whatever the term is for that(kidnapping to all extents and purposes). It is a hard pill to swallow, but the situation in Northern Ireland was only resolved by dialogue with terrorists even though they had been talking to the government unofficially for years before the public talks. And apart from Al Qaeda's reaction if any, it will also be interesting to see the reaction of the right wing militia groups within the United States.

Can't believe this was headline news on Sky last night with the presenter getting all het up that 10000 people had complained, with the number of complaints increasing as the 'story' unfolded. The question I have is how many people who complained actually listened to the broadcast, which admittedly was a juvenile and puerile attempt at humour. In the same day that we had BP announcing record profits, the forthcoming American election and the financial 'crisis' happening, this being the headline news on Sky, plus probably main news on other channels, shows how we as a nation have become obsessed by celebrity culture and are dumbing down regarding the important political/social issues of the day.

Or if the 30000 who turned up for last seasons do or die game against Sheff Utd turn up early.

Clearly you are not feeding them enough food, they are probably starving and had to resort to eating whatever wildlife was around.

Remind me who turned this country into a nation of shopkeepers and intimated there was no such thing as society, and created the me first generation that we are now currently seeing the pitfalls of?

lol.....what a leftie..."assault"...lol Nothing to do with political views, if you hit an adult it is assault, so why different with a child? I am not meaning a 'smack' as such, but for example the people you see sometimes outside basically leathering into their kids and basically taking out their frustrations on the child. If you hit your children, then they in turn think it is ok to hit theirs in future. There is no need for it, I have raised 3 children and never had to resort to hitting them.

She may be claiming unemployment benefits and be on the game as well, technically being jobless.

I wish my parents had been like that when I was younger, instead we had to scrape pocket money to buy a pack of ten fags between 3 and hang about off licences waiting till someone who was old enough walked past and was willing to go into the shop for us. Another option for getting a smoke was to buy a single fag off of the local shopkeeper I think he made a very healthy profit on a packet selling them singly.

Can you explain what it would be that you are 'losing' exactly, or would you prefer to have the option of deciding individually where your tax revenue would be apportioned to? Perhaps you are 'losing' more money by paying for the upkeep of the nuclear defence system.

"I'm 25 and I was disciplined as a child. Not too strictly, however, I knew where the line was. If I ever overstepped this, my mum or dad would be there with a wooden spoon to punish me. They wouldnt clobber me until I were black and blue, could bearly breath and needed 4 weeks intensive care in hospital, just a good ol' smack across my ars£. I learnt this way to respect my elders. The gov't have come along with their namby pamby 'no smacking' rule and consequently, kids just get shouted at (at best). No wonder respect is waining and consequently, kids are pushing the boundaries further and further. IMO the gov't should be encouraging disciplining kids (parents only), within reason obviously, but a lot more respect would come back and I think soceity would benefit more from it." So you are advocating that the government allows assault on children to be legalised, if parents have to resort to hitting children to get their point across then they are not doing a very good job of parenting, my 3 children have only ever had a 'slight tap' when babies, for putting their hands or fingers near the fire or electrical sockets, as they were too young to understand at that time. Since then they have never been hit and are grateful for that as they sit and contemplate their life in the young offenders institution.

Well I would agree with you if the separated fathers had your spelling ability, it would be a shame to inflict them with your stupidity. As a separated father myself, I take it as a parental and moral responsiblity to take an interest in the educational needs of my children and continue to do so, along with my ex wife, her partner and my girlfriend.

From BBC sports page, "Instead of sitting joint top with Chelsea, Liverpool would be 14 points worse off if their matches had finished after 58 minutes." Anyone have any equally pointless stats to share?

I would think it better for perhaps a French teacher to be French with English as their second language, not only could they teach the language but be able to provide an insight into the country from the point of having been born there.

Guess which is the only team not to get relegated from the top divsion after making as bad a start as Tottenham at this stage...........

I played there a couple of months ago with my son and found all the people I came across reasonably friendly, and enjoyed the course, but green fees were a bit pricey, but would definitely go back.

But he does have links to William Ayers who was associated with terrorist attacks within America. Though Obama was only a youth at the time, he did later on in life.... The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Obama and Ayers, now a college professor who lives in Obama's Chicago neighborhood, are not close but that they worked together on two nonprofit organizations from the mid-1990s to 2002. In addition, Ayers hosted a small meet-the-candidate event for Obama in 1995 as he first ran for the state Senate.