PB News including PB Mobile
June 25th, 2009Keeping up with the site while on the move
In order to meet the need of PBers who want to follow the site while on the move but might be worried by the cost of roaming data charges while abroad we’ve created PB Mobile.
This is a US-based service and it is configured for US users which is a tad irritating. It won’t send set-up instruction to non-US mobiles numbers and its way of handling comments system has a couple of frustrating features. But mostly it works well.
If anybody can see a way of working round this then please let me know.
Off on holiday
On Wednesday we are taking the Portsmouth - Santander car ferry on our way to a hideaway in the wonderful sherry port of Sanlucar in Andalucia. We’ll be away for three weeks and I’m aiming to try to switch off from PB as much as possible - well almost! Morus will be running the show with able support from David Herdson and Paul Maggs.
I might just be tempted to post once or twice but I do need a proper break - which is why I’m taking my netbook with embedded 3G and chose an apartment with wifi!!
The new server structure
As we saw on Monday our new arrangements are quite robust and the site coped with the huge spikes of traffic during the speaker election. There is still a problem for some people who get directed to a cached page - the best URL to use is http://www2.politicalbetting.com. There are also one or two more tweaks that need to be made.
Thanks to my son Robert for his sterling work. No other political blog in the UK gets anything like the number of page-downloads as PB and keeping up with this is quite a challenge.
Thanks to PB’s donors
As regulars will know we mounted an appeal to support the site’s technical infrastructure in the aftermath of the local and EU elections. We received nearly 60 donations ranging from £5 to £500 and reached a total of £2,600. This has helped provide the resource to enable the extra capacity.
Many thanks to all those who have contributed. It is not only the extra resources that has been great but it has been really heartening to see how much PB is valued.
We are trying to find a way of saying thank you - one thought is to provide an “Early bird” email service for those who want to be alerted when a betting call is made. We know only too well that as soon as a good opportunity gets mentioned on the site then it does not last long. More on this when I return.
If anybody else would like to contribute then click the button below.
Mike Smithson
MessageSpace Advertising
The home of Manzanilla.
Perfect.
second?
I’m sure the political classes will respect your need for a rest and do absolutely nothing while you are recharging the batteries with sherry.
Mike - Have a great holiday.
I was just wondering if the return to the “old style” comments plus the long continuous comments threads was due to the new server system and was going to remain in place?
Would you like some post Euro election articles (on the odder side of politics?) For instance, the lowest vote gatherers since Election 1950? Biggest by-election swings since 1950? And the like?
Enjoy your break, let’s hope that Gordon doesn’t resign while you’re away.
Mike - if any urgent stories break while you’re away you know you can rush back on a private jet to post and put the trip on PB expenses
Have a great time away - you deserve it.
If you use Firefox and want to be alerted when a new topic is added, use Update Scanner:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3362
Mike - Have a great holiday! You deserve it!
Oops forgot to say: Mike, have a nice holiday!
7.
So what’s the odds on the two by-elections being held whilst OGH is on holiday?
Mike - have a great hols!
12. Intersting point!
It will be after the recess for sure but before the conference season!
I wonder what wonderful PR stunts, I mean holidays, Gordo and Cameron have planned this year?
Everytime Mike goes on holiday political hell breaks out.
15. Surely Brown will goto Scotland to sure up the base!
O/T - Andy Murray is British today, definitely not Scottish.
Murray through
Gulbis didn’t live up to the hype. Murray trounced him. Kapow!
14 - Martin, I believe that’s why they’ll hold them sometime in July. As soon as parliament finishes, i reckon.
18 - A competetent scotsman rather than a posh boy from Oxfordshire with an unconvincing clenched fist who throws like a girl.
22 Lucky that he played tennis and not darts then.
21. habib butt
Every year that one comes up! Plus MPs are not able to berate Brown and may even be on holiday themselves and i should imagine many MPs from with majorities below 10,000 know the game is up but want the salary and the pay off! I think if an MP who seeks re-election but gets defeated gets a better deal than one who just steps down when the political grim reaper time approaches! To that extent it depends whether humiliation is worth encountering etc!
Yes, strategically the best time for Labour as the papers will be full of stories like “Jaws” has been spotted off cornwall!
I should imagine Labour have for sometime been in strategic grid mode. Labour were not polling well enough to go recently (Gross understatement!!!
) and so it will be all about mitigate bad news.
I’ve been using the mobile site for some time. At present I’m in a remote Hungarian valley on my mobile. It’s easier to read comments than to post, but that helps me get my fix without the higher power getting too annoyed about me sitting on a computer when I’m supposed to be on holiday.
22
Dear Tim
FYI
The first time you tell a joke its funny, the second and third time, some who haven’t heard it laugh, when everyone has heard it, your joke bombs and you are just a saddo.
Mark Sanford in for more embarrassment - emails published…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/25/mark-sanford-south-carolina
Tim will be pleased he defeated a Latvian!
26 - Bit like Gordo and his Einstein “joke”!
26. MTF, I dont tend to read Tim posts or if i do i dont take them in! Occasionally he does a good one but his defence of Gordon Brown and Labour is the funnest thing i see on PB!
(previous thread)
Interesting topic.
Whilst not a Labour voter, I have £80 (at a variety of long odds) on Labour to emerge with most seats at the next GE. I will continue to top up.
Rationale:
i) GE delayed until the last minute, with key economic indicators improving from Q3 this year. Unemployment (difficult - lagging) and house prices (easier) are the indices to watch.
ii) This allows Brown to claim his medicine is working, the more so as the Euro zone will still be in recession due to the inflexibility of the single currency.
iii) Brown to go for a few populist measures on immigration and crime, to bring some of the core vote back on board.
iv) Cameron trips up under close scrutiny of policy (or lack of) during the GE campaign. Starts to sow doubt about his competence/ability/values. Someone in the shadow cabinet (Clarke?) goes loose cannon - a Howard Flight moment. An element of ‘better the devil you know’ feeling emerges.
v) The commentariat still aren’t properly factoring the electoral mountain the Tories have to climb.
vi) Brown might have gone by the GE, and Johnson/Miliband/whoever get a nice bounce.
Result - a messy hung Parliament with Labour just scraping the most seats. Not the most likely outcome, it would appear, but 8/1 is good value.
re 1. Tim - Sanlucar is just about the most perfect place I know. It has a unique micro-climate that with 300 days of sunshine a year and is the only place where Manzanilla can be made. Our apartment is in a 200 year old building that overlooks the palace of the late Red Duchess - a wonderful woman who died last year who was at one point imprisoned by Franco. On her death-bed she “married” her secretary - much to the annoyance of her children.
If you have your own container you can buy Manzanilla at just over one euro a litre. The food is incredible and great value
Have a great holiday, Mr Smithson!
re 5. Email Morus.
From Mike’s comment at the beginning of the previous thread:
“The Conservatives are in strong positions in all the polling data and in real elections but then so was Labour in 1991.”
Actually Labour wasn’t doing anywhere near as well in 1991 as the Conservatives are and have been doing for years.
At the 1991 local elections Labour led the Conservatives by only 1% and there were several councils where the Conservatives did very well - Birmingham was one IIRC.
Has any government ever come back from being 10% behind at a May/June local elections to win the subsequent general election? Remember that Labour have been more than that behind for the last four years.
Enjoy the well deserved break Mike, and should SallyC’s prediction of ‘all political hell breaking out’ whilst you are away, I’m sure the three amigos left in charge can cope.
Off topic, I see that Henry G Manson’s latest tennis tip is performing as he expected. We were promised a roller coaster ride from Cuevas, and so far it’s gone 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-4.
Re 31. I read arguments like that being put in the year before the 1997 election - and we all know what happened.
If Labour has a new leader then who knows? I think it could be a lot tougher for the Tories than many think.
31. Chris Read, Welcome if you are a new poster.
A great post even if i disagree!
The problem for Labour is it is no longer just about Gordon Brown but how some of his MPs are seen (Expenses)! I dont think there will be an economic recovery for several reasons (I have stated before) and if there is Brown will be under pressure in his final budget to raise taxes to close the Fiscal spending/taxation gap!
Gordon Brown or a replacement leader just will not get any credit - if Gordon is vindicated why would he step down? If Johnson becomes PM just before an election why not a month ago? It just does not look right and smells very bad! Labour lost the change of leadership card within the last 4 weeks! If Brown goes it will not be a case of waiting before a GE for an election but pressure will be put on for straight away! Brown will still be an issue and could Labour just install another leader without an electon? It smacks of desperation! Meanwhile if Labour change leader Cameron may well use the time to campaign in the “New Marginals” that make a working Tory majority!
Labour are on a road to know where! The writing is on the wall!
31.
“Result - a messy hung Parliament with Labour just scraping the most seats. Not the most likely outcome, it would appear, but 8/1 is good value.”
Ladbrokes:
Labour seats 250-274 14/1, 275-299 20/1
Would be much better bets.
37, I know
I backed him, then laid his opponent at low odds, then backed his opponent. I’m almost where I started in terms of a Cuevas victory his my potential losses are down to about quarter of what they would’ve been.
38, a new leader might help Labour, if delivered bloodlessly, but there’s no-one in the wings equal to Cameron.
Sally C may well be right about all hell breaking out while OGH is away but we may not notice much change given that political hell has been breaking out on an almost daily basis ever since the Daily Telegraph started publishing MPs expenses and it wasn’t exactly dull before then. I, too, hope that OGH has an excellent and well-deserved break. It’s been a highly successful year for the site but there must have been times when the amount of traffic has made it a complete nightmare for those running it. We all owe all of you a great deal of gratitude.
32 - It is lovely, I’ve got friends inland.
The microclimate is the reason for Manzanilla.
The myth is that it tastes salty because of the sea air.
The fact is that the microclimate allows the flor (the fungus which gives sherry its taste) to grow better than anywhere else in the region, and thats what imparts the saltiness.
43 - And will the smearbot be taking a long vacation this summer?
I saw Murray being interviewed just before his match this evening - Jeez, is he always so absolutely without humour or personality or was he just having a bad day?
Are we expecting a poll shortly?
Like antifrank, I too have used the mobile version a fair bit. However, due to the crap comment system, I tend to surf into the normal url, which is far easier if you want to read the comments and not just Mike’s post. I have a good mobile but get the occasional crash if the thread gets too long.
42. I agree with your sentements regarding the site! I enjoy it and really like the varied views and input from “joe bloggs to MPs!”. It is better than reading a paper IMO! First class stuff from the thread headers that Mike writes with help from others on occasion (Mike is the driver!) to the comments! Very enjoyable IMO and i hope Mike makes money or perhaps gets wider recogination for such a valueable tool in regards to politics and its accesable and interocative nature.
It is Quality, seriousness, LOL, quirky! and a stoke of genuis!
Good stuff!
45 - I wondered initially if it was because of the bright lights, the caneras, the media etc, but no I just think that is him, a man who makes Steve Davis look interesting.
Haven’t seen this posted before - Guido guest column in Times about new Independent Parly Standards Authority
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6571525.ece
49, hehe, he isn’t Captain Sparkly, but so what? He’s a bloody good tennis player.
48 Martin - can that really be you - having a love fest with Mike?
Seriously though, well said and well deserved!
45 Wayne Rooney’s hardly laugh a minute is he?
I think Murray’s a very decent young man from what I can see.
It’s the English press which should be ashamed of themselves for misreresenting the joke he made about the English football team. He was having a laugh and they didn’t get it.
Sorry if that sounds a bit ratty, but I think he gets a raw deal.
45. Before his hair cut he reminded me of a 19th century charecter! He took an abraham lincoln pose in one interview i saw!
Murray though is truiph from tragedy as i believe he survived Dunblane!
That said i still dont like him but hope he wins and becomes SW1 champion all the same!
Though Stuart will rub it in all the same! 
That image of a volcano erupting imo shows the ash breaking the sound barrier - It is similar to pictures of Fighter jets breaking the sound barrier and a concave vapour dome appears!
43 Tim, posting without showing your google link… oh dear….
5 Harry Hayfield, didn’t the Nine Percent Growth Party set some record (low) at the Scottish GE 2007?
51 - Nothing wrong with it, just saying that seems to be him. Tiger Woods is hardly a laugh a minute, his press conferences and media interviews are mind numbing at best.
I think Murray also suffering from the fact that Federer and Nadal do seem to have that spark about them, they are in it to win it, no mistake about it, but as soon as it is over, they seem to go in media friendly mode with real ease.
52. Of course it is me! Mike, only lets himself down with ‘Banning threats’ and wobbling when the LDs get greif!
Otherwise exellent stuff! Keep it up and all that!
Sky are having fun with the BBC expenses!
F**k. Levine’s broken Cuevas in the fifth.
Knew I should have laid him off.
Martin Day = SUCKUPBOT!
59. Not as much fun as the claiments had by all accounts!
60, still could turn it around….
I dont think Sky would be having so much fun if they were forced to declare their expenses.
Mmmm. I suppose it could.
I’m watching the scoreboard on http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/index.html
It’s like watching football on cefax.
48- Hear hear! May Mike live to be 200, and may my latest post be the last he ever reads…
53 I must admit my opinion of the Scots has nose dived in recent years. Where I used to equate them with having a good sense of humour and being generally good people with their hearts in the right place, If I hear a scottish accent I now think arrogant, incompentent sly and in it for themselves. That is the effect of Brown, Michael Martin, Fred the shred, Alister Darling and the endless cast of Scottish characters that have saddled us with generations of debt, a police state, and a totally failed banking system.
Andy Murray is one of a very few positive Scottish influenes in recent years.
64, ah, I use http://tinyurl.com/n2alvf, from the ATP tennis website.
I use it when betting in-play for other tournaments too.
67, link failed. But click on the Live Scores bit on the right hand side.
Stuart Dickson, if that positive Scottish influenes Andy Murray holds the Wimbledon trophy aloft, would this strengthen the call for Scottish Independence?
A yes or yes answer will suffice.
66
When was the last time you went to Scotland?? If you avoid the metropolis’s and get out into the Highlands, the Scottish people are without doubt the friendliest one could wish for. I will certainly holiday there again.
Mike, enjoy the break. We all know that the next 12 months is going can’t avoid being an exceptional time in British politics. The site traffic will ramp up to who knows what levels, so well done to Robert on getting that capacity in ahead of the real frenzy.
This place is far and away the place for a considered - and yet immediate - take on current affairs. Politicians have a chance to mull over situations before responding. What is wonderful here is the real-time analysis of events - which has to be right, cuz folks are backing that analysis with hard cash.
And where else can you invade Britain in 1940, discuss the Jewishness in Tolkien or get handy-hints on blood-eagling`whilst picking up fantastic tennis tips? The depth of expertise available on any topic within moments is truly astounding.
You may have built a monster - but it is one of which you can be rightly proud.
67 That’s a snazzy site. The politicshome of the tennis world.
66/69 - it because he is a Hibs supporter…
55 - Ha Ha.
From the man who overreached his knowledge base on “West Sussex beaches dog fouling regulations”
72, I only use it for the live scores bit.
Oh well. Cuevas came close. And I lost 79 pence, so I think my finances can withstand the hit.
Also managed not to lose anything on Baltacha by laying at 3-1. Surprised she lost that
70. It’s true in most countries that people outside the bigger cities are far frienlier.
I have never been to Scotland. I think there are people here like Christina D who help Scotland’s cause but there is no denying that the people who have been in charge when it has all gone to shit have been Scots and far from holding their hands up most of them have begrudgingly taken the money and run. Sorry but that clouds my view. It is a shame.
77 for 70.
Question Time
In Newquay
Panel: Jim Knight, Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, Julia Goldsworthy, Leanne Wood and Kelvin McKenzie.
Scotland Wales and N.Ireland should leave the UK *NOW*. Then we wouldn’t have to put up with the constant moaning. I want an English Broadcasting Corporation!
74 Really Tim.. This is on Worthing Council’s website… I seem to remember we tangled about this when I said dogs were not allowed on beaches from April to September…. I am sure the bot directory has reference to what we exchanged.
http://www.worthing.gov.uk/worthings-services/environmentalhealth/dogwardenservice/dogsinworthing/
Dogs not allowed…..
•The beach from ‘Splash Point’ (end of Warwick Road) to Heene Road and between the two boat launching ramps in Goring from May 1st to September 30th each year.
77 “far from holding their hands up most of them have begrudgingly taken the money and run.”
should read “far from holding their hands up most of them have blamed others and when cornered taken the money and begrudgingly run”
I need an edit button
75 He certainly did better than his price suggested.
I do like this time of year. I think it’s because there’s no football and none of the boorish culture that surrounds it. Mind you, I suppose if we had wall-to-wall tennis for nine months of the year, I’d tire of that too.
Mike: Casino has donated.
Not much, but I hope it helps.
83, you might tire of the tennis but there’d be much less yobbery Rugby’s much better in that respect also.
77. Scotland IMO was the driving force of New Labour and particularly Gordon Brown in the economic sense! Once the people in England got a taste for public spending and frit of cuts Brown believed he would be walking on water! Instead - Brown is a hundred feet under and and his last gasp of air is running out!
83. Sparky, you’re obviously not watching Brazil v South Africa on BBC3 then! 0-0 at half time…
81 I know I shouldn’t ask, but how on Earth did you end up debating dog fouling in Worthing?
Is there still that revoltingly smelly seaweed problem there too?
This is absolutely hilarious
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2009/jun/04/french-tempation-island-overtime
Tried donating, but I seem to have an issue with my paypal account. I do have an up-to-date card on it though…
88
I have no idea, it was something that happened on a sunday morning IIRC. Timbot had only just surfaced on PB, sadly ………..
If this poll has been posted here before: apologies!
http://page.politicshome.com/uk/voters_repaying_the_money_makes_no_difference.html
Chris Read’s post is a breath of fresh air. Wonderful to get a new point of view.
85. I’d like football much more if there were no commentators, and no analysis whatsoever. I don’t mind Danny Baker talking about football, and Pat Nevin’s all right, but the rest of them just spew out the same garbage. Bores me rigid.
Ashes should be good. That’s another nice summer sound.
91. Were yellow capped individuals with yellow paint on their faces and a big grin seen in the vacinity the previous day?
LD = Dog Shit!
Grrr, no idea why that wasn’t working. I might try using my credit card (linking it, apparently it isn’t already… it should be) tomorrow. Stupid technology.
86 - I disagree with you there Martin , New Labour was quite alien to the rank and file Labour Party in Scotland. It was seen from up here as a Champaign Socialism. The Islington based Blair and his sect were the driving force of New Labour and managed to hijack it very well. I was quite surprised over the years why the non-Scottish elements of Labour chose Brown et al. Maybe a legacy of the 80’s when the Scots foolishly kept voting Labour thinking they would oust Thatcher. Maybe it was a thank you. Oh dear.
“What are you looking at, punk? Do you know who I am and don’t you read the newspaper, punk?”
Where might you expect to hear these words? At four in the morning from a drunk hobo? In a dark alley on the wrong side of the tracks? Maybe, but where they were really spoken was the New York state senate, uttered by one of the elected members of said august body at an attorney for the state senate Republicans.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06252009/news/regionalnews/attack_dem_faces_new_heat_175996.htm
The good senator is already facing felony assault charges for attacking a newspaper photographer last month, hence his threatening question about whether the GOP attorney “reads the newspaper.”
31. “I have £80 (at a variety of long odds) on Labour to emerge with most seats at the next GE. I will continue to top up.”
And I will continue to take your money.
79. Ugh, terrible line-up. I’ll give that QT a miss.
Hooray, Sky managed to track down odious hypocrite Norman Baker for a comment on the Tories expenses repayments.
Everyone should be like Norman Baker, a true giant amongst hypocrites.
Conspiracy Hypocrite Monkey, on ice.
100 and Glenn Oglaza helpfully added criminal prosecutions may follow - not ONLY Tories, he concluded.
lol
Mike.. a modest donation has been made to your site running costs. Thanks for the site. A wee reminder every quarter, and I’d be happy to oblige further.
Christine ( AKA LTL )
98 - Yes NY state politics is not for the faint of heart. I used to live in upstate NY and it was always fun to watch the shenanigans…
Down here in Georgia it’s positively boring by comparison….
88 - I think I made the point that as in Spain dogs should be banned from Beaches in the Summer,
MTF with his local knowledge claimed they were banned in W.Sussex, for some reason, which is true on a couple of beaches apparently but not most.
As he’s a dog owner who lives in West Sussex I thopught he might have a chance of being correct.
Sadly not.
Martin Day - re your comments on the previous thread about the lady in Lycra passing your house with amazing regularity: I spend an hour a day in the gym, (plus my trainer 2 days a week) and ladies turn up there in all manner of coordinated and eye catching brief outfits to do weights, stair climbing etc.
So I am getting fitter and enjoying the eye candy also, and those daily 45 minutes on the treadmill just fly by
100 - Does he claim his UFO fares on expenses?
104. Without dog fouling, LibDem councillors would lose their purpose in life…
…as opposed to Labour councillors, who just lost their seats.
(There, I got the LibDem retaliation in for you
)
103- I think politics is only more exciting in those Asian legislatures where people physically attack each other. That said, though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some physical attacks in the New York senate by the time they get around to resolving their current power struggle.
Tim, but they are banned in the main areas from April to September Tim, just like IIRC I said they were…
107. Re-reading what I wrote, it seems to give the impression that I think tim is a LibDem! Obviously that was not my intention, and this part of my post was directed at other PBers who happen to be LibDems.
So that’s sorted then.
Were dogs used in the Latvian SS?
107 - Thats why they’re against CCTV cameras so that the dog foulers will never be caught and Lib Dems can scoop the country
106 quite probably. The guy is seriously channeling Oliver Cromwell.
Did I read on PB earlier today that a poll is expected this evening?
O/T - does no one else get *really* annoyed with the way Gordon Brown pronounces “transparency” ??
Most people pronounce it: Trans-pah-run-see
Gordon Brown pronounces it: Trans-PEAAR-rin-see (with extra Scotch on the “PEAAR”)
Arrgghhhh!!! Does my head in.
104 Well it’s always good to know that you’ve buried the hatchet
I can’t take my dogs to the beach as little old ladies with Yorkies assume my greyhounds will eat them and make a terrible fuss when they pop over for a sniff.
115. As in the song:
“And a partridge in a trans-peaar-rin-see”
?
116 - You’ve got a thing about old ladies and chocolate bars?
Each to their own.
116, I don’t see the point of small dogs. They’re glorified rats. I’d sooner have a ferret than a small dog.
115 he has a problem with a lot of words
Like, Soll You Shuns
Basically, he is a tw@t, the physical manifestation of an ‘incompetence’
115 - not as much as the fact he drops the second t in constituent.
105. Tim B
Yes, sights like that certainly keep the pecker up!
108 - don’t know about the NY Senate, but a friend of mine was standing for the Assembly and he said every Assembly incumbent state wide was re-elected last November.
115 Tims argument is about as transpaaaaaaaarent as Gordo’s about Capital Investment.
108 Politicians fighting? Heaven forbid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djdy_fhvZuM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tszrmFiar_U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwKxlilXgQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4wn70xPxzc
and on and on!!
114 AnneJGP
Someone mentioned a possible Telegraph Yougov.
119 - me too. Have had 3 German Shepherds, all lovely dogs. Heidi (#3 and first female) is lying beside me as I type.
123- That could be true, though I’m not sure. The Assembly is a peaceful backwater compared to the explosive Senate. The GOP doesn’t even attempt to fight for Assembly seats, so that’s probably why no incumbents were defeated.
122 - just have to stop it banging on the bar which picks up my heart rate
120. Indeed.
re 14/21 if the by elections are to be held on 30th July then the writs would need moving anywhere between 3rd-9th July, a week earlier for 23rd July
127, I’d like a German Shepherd. Never had one though, mum always said she didn’t want big dogs because she couldn’t walk them on her own, so we always got mid-sized beasts (border collies).
On an unrelated but equally off-topic note, I hate this damned humidity. And the heat. Stupid bloody summer.
127 I took on a white GSD 6 month old puppy [Monty] a couple of months ago as a rescue - he was lovely [but nervous aggressive issues with strangers] but after 3 weeks killed two of my cats so he had to go back.
I’ve heard this is very unlike the breed - do you have a view?
127 Awww-I ADORE German Shepherds-if you’re anywhere near Bournemouth,I’d happily dog-walk for you!
108- Hey don’t forget Italy! They have the odd punch up now and again!
133 - I like the idea of a rescue visit.
All those sad eyes peering through the fences after they’ve been abandoned and sent away.
Then I realised.
Hey.
thats how Tories at boarding school end up getting selected for safe seats.
I went off the idea.
119. Smaller pieces of dog shit that can be “accidently on purpose” left in the long grass!
115. CS. Funny you should say that but a LD (Susan Kramer) at PMQs this week prenounced Sri Lanker in a way that was very different to how i have heard it said before! I thought i heard MPs taking the piss in the distant!
It was really quite irrating plus funny! Brown misprounces all sorts of stuff and it irrates me but everything he says grates with me! Brown = Crap!
The luddites were right after all.
“Teen is twittered to death”
http://www.shieldsgazette.com/strange-but-true/Teen-is-twittered-to-death.5402636.jp
126 Thanks, wibbler
137, if it’s long grass it probably doesn’t matter.
129. Tim B
Sometimes the only thing you can do is sit and rest to stop it rising! 
Oh yeah - failed to mention that I got YouGoved a day or so ago.
-checks inbox-
Yup - survey finished 10am this morning, probably for the Telegraph (”TEL” code).
Haven’t we usually seen some hint by now, though (for a poll to be published the following day?)
138, can’t really blame twitter for that. An unusual female Darwin Award winner.
138. If you read the story, don’t forget to vote in the “Are you happy living in South Tyneside?” poll on the right hand side of the page. Remarkably, the majority (54%) have said Yes! Must be thanks to the local MP - take a bow D. Miliband!!!
133 & 132 - yes, that is untypical, but with a dog like a GSD - generally agreed to be the most intelligent breed, with Border Collies second - so much depends on the upbringing and handling. The ‘nervous aggressive’ is unusual: most GSDs are wary of strangers and keep their distance until they feel comfortable or see overt action from their owner (hugging the person etc) and then feel OK to come over for a sniff / fuss etc.
When I got Heidi - a rescue at 15 months with mange - I had a cat. Once he worked out Heidi wouldn’t attack him, he waited beside the sofa and every time she passed he would jump out. She was more scared of him and her new surroundings, owner etc than he was of her. But she just stayed away from him - until he went back to my wife’s house. Now Heidi is the queen of her domain - she even sleeps on the bed next to me.
Regarding the hot weather and humidity - here in the deep south it has been over 95 every day this week, with high humidity and overnight lows in the high 70s. But thanks to the miracle of air conditioning it is always nice and cool inside and I can sleep comfortably under a sheet and a counterpane.
134 - Atlanta might be a little far from Bournemouth (about 4400 statute miles I think) but If you’re up for a weekend I’ll consider it!
136
Its all about the owner not the dog IMHO. If you rescue a dog as I have many times, its all about past experiences of the dog. I . wouldn’t blame yourself at all..
92 Thanks for the link to PoliticsHome poll.
Bet Hazel et al are delighted, not.
When I got Heidi - a rescue at 15 months with mange - I had a cat. Once he worked out Heidi wouldn’t attack him, he waited beside the sofa and every time she passed he would jump out. She was more scared of him and her new surroundings, owner etc than he was of her. But she just stayed away from him - until he went back to my wife’s house. Now Heidi is the queen of her domain - she even sleeps on the bed next to me.
Sounds just like Edwina and John.
136 - at the shelter I went to, all the eyes looking through the fence were wide eyed with fear - everything they knew and had assumed would always be there had disappeared as if by magic, and they were looking for someone to rescue them - then I realised that they were all labour MPs who had found out that eventually the spending has to stop!.
145- What the hell does 95 mean?
145. I just sleep naked on top of the bed!Luckily the flies dont seem to get into my bedroom!
I cannot stand that noise!
149 - actually he is called Buddy and I have no idea if he tucks his shirt in or not
145, got to disagree. Border collies are smarter than German shepherds and there’s some weird new hybrid smarter even than border collies.
Ah, aircon. I remember that. No aircon in this house, alas. It isn’t very hot but the UK has a special law which insists on its humidity always being far too high.
149. What is mange? I think i spelt it correctly?
I once spent a month in Kuwait City. Over 50C…they had Air/con too though thank god!
138 Well at least she went in a highly fashionable way.
151 - 95 is expressed in degrees Frankenstein. When I was a kid that’s how they did temperatures, now they use degrees Crazius which I don’t understand.
95 frankenstein is about 35 crazius.
115 its a skin infection thats used to be very difficult to cure but with modern drugs it can be got rid of.
159 was for 155
156- Once in Dubai in late November and could barely walk out the door during the day. I could only imagine what it would be like during summer.
Just took my wire-haired fox terrier along part of the Thames path.
Magnificent evening, not a breath of wind. Still a cuckoo calling, sat out on a riverside perch; masses of sedge warblers; and swifts seem to be around in big numbers. Big creche of Canada geese - and a hobby steamed through, scything the air like a lethal kung-fu star!
What a country, eh?
159. I see - Hear people talk often about getting mange but have not seen a good specimen personally!
145 I specialise in nervous dogs [mostly greyhounds] and Monty came from a litter of 5 that were dumped at Battersea Dogs Home at 5 months by the breeder.
They’d had very little social contact and he was a very dominant dog who I had to be very firm with. He was a perfect gent with all my cats and was scared of a couple who gave him what for - and then ZAMM.
Such a shame as he was a lovely, exceptionally smart and cuddlely polar bear - here’s a picture
155 - mange (from Wikipeida so it’s about as accurate as my namesake’s political antennae)
“Mange (from Middle English manjeue, from Old French manjue, from mangier, meaning to eat)[1] is a parasitic infestation of the skin of animals. Common symptoms include hair loss, itching and inflammation, all of which are caused by microscopic mites. Mange is most commonly found in dogs and other canines, but it can occur in other domestic and wild animals.”
My dog Heidi is a pure bred GSD - I have all the AKC paperwork for her. The original owners paid $1000 for her at 9 weeks from a reputable breeder, spent $450 on the hysterectomy, and more on sundry medical bills. At 15 months she was in the pound a week away from the needle, with her ribs showing, and mange. Why do people do this?
She has turned into a lovely gentle dog and is drop dead gorgeous - she gets lots of compliments when we’re out walking or at the dog park. She’s not aggressive at all, but if challenged is relentless and ruthless - she has cowed several dogs about 30lbs heavier than her (sorry that’s about 14kg).
154 - don’t want to get into a pissing contest on this - both GSDs and Border Collies are really sharp smart dogs.
Slightly OT - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8118257.stm the comments are a must read.
Sarcoptic Mange or Scabies in dogs always looks worse than it is.
We chuck the dogs in a hot soapy bath with the kids, so far no fatalities!
164 - He’s gorgeous - what a shame. It’s not your fault though.
141 - I rest my towel on it. And my headphones. And my iPod. And my water bottle. There’s plenty of room left
On the subject of Lib Dems and dogs crapping in the street.
I’m almost disappointed at their unwillingness to crack down really hard on the problem at source rather than build campaigns around picking up the stuff.
If a fringe Lib Dem breakaway group formed “Rinka Militias”, decided to get themselves armed and take out the problem at source, I think they’d get a lot of support.
Gordon Brown: I will not walk away from Downing Street
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6578602.ece
164, I used to occasionally see and sometimes look after a big white alsatian. They look fantastic.
Once we had to take a dog back to the rescue centre. It’s an awful feeling, but the hound was terrified of other dogs, and we live on a very busy dog walking route.
171, of course not. He’ll be leaving on a trolley, in a straitjacket, escorted by men in white coats.
117 Sandy/partridge
171 - What? Ever? I think the British public might have something to say about that!
demodectic mange isnt funny even now. it can take months to erradicate
http://www.downlandvets.co.uk/Pages/Clinical/Pages/Mange.html
159 The drug used to treat mange is the same as the one they use to treat fleas - Program.
I once had a cat [ooh 30yrs ago] with mange and it took 2 months to get on top of it with multiple bathing treatments every day.
Poor little thing had virtually no fur and was covered in scab like grazes. I had no idea it was so much easier to treat until I had a fox with a terrible case of it in my garden recently.
171 - “Gordon Brown brushes aside any suggestions that he might “walk away” before the next general election”
Then why on earth ffs did you say last week in the Guardian that could?
I once had a cat [ooh 30yrs ago] with mange and it took 2 months to get on top of it with multiple bathing treatments every day.
Other positions and lubricants are available.
179
Tim thats not funny, its just sad very sad, just like you.
One of the drawbacks to large dogs, and this has already been alluded to, is the size of their performances. In golfing terms, you get a free drop.
So I have this spring loaded super dooper pooper scooper that is so fierce it could emasculate an elephant. You just pull back on the handle (sometimes it takes 2 hands), lower it to surround the substance in question, then - KERBLAMMO - the jaws shut quicker than a privy door when the plague’s in town, and you wander over to the trash can provided for the purpose at the dog park and dispose of it thoughtfully.
For small dogs - yes you just ignore it and nobody notices it in the long grass, until they get home and their sneakers pong unusually strongly.
154. “Border collies are smarter than German shepherds and there’s some weird new hybrid smarter even than border collies.”
There’s an old hybrid that’s smarter than collies - lurchers. Owned two, current one a rescue, bloody smart, loves humans, but everything small and furry (squirrels, cats, rabbits) is considered as lunch. Interesting that it uses a very different technique for nailing each of these prey species.
173 - you got in first.
171 - would he consider a slight limp?
184 Perhaps he could bravely run away…?
We all know from his writing on courage that “he was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways…”
171. Obviously GB will not need to walk away - he’ll be carried out on the shoulders of his adoring public. The cheers will be echoing throughout London as the crowd carry him across Westminster Bridge….and throw him into the Thames.
There are different types of mange and different treatments, depending on your ‘wallet biopsy’. Luckily Heidi’s was fixed within a week or so.
Her original name was Gretta, but that sounded more like a industrial engineer than a hymn to the teutonic feminine, so with a new home came a new name.
The first couple of months were terrible - she would stand next to me in the house, maintain eye contact, then crouch and pee on the carpet without losing eye contact. She had been through a rough time, but it was worth it as she is a gorgeous dog now and very happy and settled. Why wouldn’t she be - she shares a 5 bedroom house with a sucker!
179 - I bet you watched Old Yeller and didn’t cry.
179, 180. No, it is quite funny.
I prefer evil amusing tim to tedious Latvian-obsessed tim.
ON topic, have a GRAND holiday, Mister Smithson, and thanks to Robert and the gang for all their good works. I shall contribute to your appeal, allegorically.
171 — “I will not walk away from Downing Street”
He could always save face by re-naming it…!
http://tinyurl.com/nhuuke
183, it’s part of the Morris Dancer way. Quick comments, giant artillery guns and a manifesto with a 95% approval rating, according to Morris Poll Dancing Organisation.
188
neither is palatable, i find that joke particularly sad.
I’d heard that the top three in the smart dog stakes were GSD, Border Collies then Poodles [popular circus dogs].
I can absolutely confirm that greyhounds are lazy, devoted, not very bright [have never trained one to play fetch] and have the bravery of a dormouse.
If you are a cat person, then I think a greyhound is the closest dog equivalent in terms of exercise!
187, we renamed our first rescue dog. She was originally called Ethel
Just got here, so I don’t know if someone posted:
“Tory anger at David Cameron order to repay expenses claims”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/25/conservative-mps-expenses-david-cameron
189 Not waving - Drowning Street?
192, poodles are smart, and pretty cool dogs. Not had one but wouldn’t mind owning one.
180. MTF
Tim was just giving the benefit of his experience on his farm.
66 & 80 , what a pair of whingers, get out the house more you saddo’s.
193 the litter Monty came from were called Marley [Monty], Lionel, Otis, Hendrix and Ray.
They were all white dogs so clearly someone at the rescue centre had a sense of humour!
171 et al. So now we know what was discussed when Brown invited Thatcher to No. 10: How to leave with dignity once you have been ousted by your party.
Sky breaking news: Wacko Jacko taken to hospital, suffered heart attack.
Can we (The English) have a referendum, asking if we want to remain in the Union with the Welsh, Irish and Scots?
195 I’ve always quite fancied a standard poodle - knew a blind one years ago and you’d never know he couldn’t see.
Didn’t even have a white stick
200. Is he still alive?
203. Gordon or Jacko?
I believe the answer is yes in both cases.
Anyway chaps, I’m off for the night.
199 - My shepherds were Maxwell Smart (Max) - found north of Toronto in the middle of the road in a January snowstorm, Rommel - bought from a breeder after Max died at 16, and Heidi - went to visit a new Humane Society location where a friend of a friend volunteers, no intention of getting a dog. I never stood a chance. Free medical exam and shots, free chip implant, $50 donation and I had been adopted by Heidi.
After Rommel died I was dogless (but had my cat Buddy) for almost 3 years until Heidi adopted me.
200- I can see tomorrow’s NY Post headline already: Wacko Jacko has Heart Attacko.
200 - All that cosmetic work wasted.
They desegregated hospitals years ago.
171 - how lucky we all are
207 - better than Wacko Jacko Beats it…
207 -The Neverland Bypass.
201. No, if we leave, we lose our security council seat. If they leave us, we keep it.
211: Doctor’s prognosis:
Bad
213- Critical condition…
213 - Patients Proboscis:
Worse
171 That Gordon interview…
“Eric Pickles, the Conservative Party chairman, said: “Is this Gordon Brown’s big idea for a re-launch?
“It’s typical of new Labour to try and dupe the public and dress this up as some kind of radical announcement.
“It is, of course, vital that people in public life maintain the highest standards; however, Gordon Brown must wake up and realise this should be a duty and not a virtue. “
194 - strange. The Standard reported today that a PCP meeting earlier went very well for Cameron, with a large majority coming round to his view where previously there were doubts. Just repeating what I read…
re 32 Mike unlike here where she would have had to make do with new-Labour’s second best civil partnerships, the red duchess, in progressive, Catholic Spain, did marry her secretary. No quotes needed.
Denis MacShane has a Guardian CIF thread entitled “The Tories’ sole offer is anti-Brownism”
These are the first three comments, quite amusing really
That’s a bit like saying all antibiotics are good for is getting rid of infection. You’re going to need rather more. by jonCG
Considering that Brownism = Fascism for ugly people, I’d say that’s a pretty good offer! By FuriusCamillus
That’s because politically, it’s a more effective weapon than 200 nuclear weapons loaded with Anthrax, fired from a Blofeld style pacific island. by 13thDukeofWybourne
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/04/labour-election-gordon-brown
Jenny Sanford’s statement is a lesson in dignity for those whose spouse has wronged them:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0609/Jennys_statement_A_trial_separation_and_a_second_chance.html
217 The Beeb abd other news channels were reporting the same ie a few complaints but by far the majority of Tory MPs understand why it needs to be done and are accepting of it.
When I was a kid in England, every time a kid was savaged by a big dog, it was always assumed to be an Alsatian (now German Shepherd Dog). I always thought they looked great - Rin Tin Tin etc. When fate intervened north of Toronto some thirty years ago and Max arrived I just accepted the inevitable - I’m a GSD fan.
There’s nothing wrong with poodles - they are perfectly good dogs.
Of course, I would say I prefer GSDs though
Is there a correlation between the finely crafted words of OGH and esteemed helpers and what is subsequently discussed?!
I have to say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the eclectic nature of the last couple of days - what on Earth will the silly season do for PB debate ?!
Cons 38
Lab 25
LD 18
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/5638668/Three-quarters-of-Britons-say-cut-public-spending.html
220 - as a Georgia resident, South Carolina is a neighboring state and this has been all over the news for days.
Mrs Sanford has indeed been dignified in her actions.
I run regularly and have done for 30 years.
In that time I have been bitten three times by dogs:
a rottweiler - best madasafish rump - drew blood… Sitting down was paiful for a week and anti tetanus injections.
A spaniel - ankle - just a scratch.
And alsatian - leg - drew blood but just a scratch.
In all three cases the owner was within 5 metres and failed to control their dog.
I like dogs normally but hate them when running…
222 and of course GSDs were renamed as Alsations during WW2 so that they weren’t vilified.
Spin was alive and well in 1939!
224 “just 19 percent of voters say they are “satisfied” with Mr Brown as Prime Minister. More than a third of voters, 35 percent say that David Cameron would make the best Prime Minister compared to 18 percent for Mr Brown.”
Modest rise for Labour, though.
The owner of a pub left his Rottweiler tied up outside. A man sticks his head into the bar, ‘Whose Rottweiler is that tied up outside’? he asked.
‘Mine!’ said the landlord, ‘Why?’
‘Cos my dog has just killed it’ said the man
‘What sort of dog have you got, that can kill a Rottweiler?’ asked the landlord.
‘A Yorkshire terrier’ said the man.
‘A bloody Yorkshire terrier, how the ‘ell did a Yorkshire terrier kill a Rottweiler?’
‘Got stuck in its throat’ said the man.
224. cont. 19% of voters go for ‘others’.
That’s still a big lump.
227- Q: Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Nazi Party?
A: Woof! Woof!
224 - ‘ just 19 percent of voters say they are “satisfied” with Mr Brown as Prime Minister. More than a third of voters, 35 percent say that David Cameron would make the best Prime Minister compared to 18 percent for Mr Brown.
The poll results are expected to reignite tensions within the Labour party over the strategy for the next election. Senior ministers such as Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, are said to have urged the Prime Minister to be more open about the need for public spending cuts.’
219. MacShane. The trouble with New Labour is that there are so many deserving candidates for removal from the planet Earth that you hardly no where to begin.
226
I too was a runner for thirty years, bitten once, by a Jack Russell, I knew the owner he was mortified.
230. Indeed. I wonder how long it’ll take for “Others” to fall back to where they would really be in a general election?
Changes:
C -2
L +1
LD 0
224. “Therefore, in total 79 percent of those polled said that public spending should be cut.”
Does Gordon Brown realise that he is now campaigning for a Tory victory?
225. If her and her husband break up, as seems quite likely when he spends their trial separation romping in Argentina, she could well go into politics on her own. She is clearly eloquent, she’s been Mark’s chief political adviser since the beginning, and her past on Wall Street clearly shows she has brains.
237 - whenever Gordon Brown does anything he helps a Tory victory. The awesome thing is he thinks quite the opposite.
235. Be much more fun if they don’t fall back. Tory hopefuls could protect their flanks from UKIP by signing up to BOO. Dunno what Lab could do.
237 His party do…
227 plato. Of course the bad smell of German names ran a little earlier when in 1917 King George V thought it a tad unwise to be of the House of Saxe Coburg and Gotha when we were chucking shells at the filthy huns !!
So Windsor it was …. just as well the castle wasn’t in Neasden !!
So the Tories still not able to get above 40%, not much enthusiasm there, government by default.
YouGov continues to produce steady figures for each of the main parties.
The percentage for each party in the previous 4 YouGov polls have been:
40-37-37-39 Cons
24-22-21-22 Lab
18-19-19-18 LD
242 - or Auchtermuchty
219 Simon StC - some of those comments are hilarious.
You are confusing campaigning with walking in the funeral procession behind the New Labour coffin.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/04/labour-election-gordon-brown?commentid=93df413b-0dc8-4089-97c3-4a61443b6163
243 - others at 19%.
Meanwhile your precious Labour soar to the dizzy heights of 25.
Sky are reporting that ‘he’s not doing at all well’ - that sounds like code for he’s gone, fingers crossed that he pulls through.
248 Jacko keeling over would dominate the news for days…
245 marcia. Well quite !!
I’m not sure why people are talking about dogs, but well anyway.
There is a woman in my neighbourhood whom I often see walking her dogs. She has five of them. They are all poodles, and all the same size and shape, but they are colour-coded so that people can tell which is which. They are white, black, grey, brown and ginger. I stopped her one time and asked if they were all from the same litter; she said no. They were aged 5 to 12. Whenever I see her I often think that one day I’m going to look out and see her with only four because one of them will have died.
242
The reason for the name change, (which didn’t come till 1917) was London was being bombed by an aircraft called the Gotha, (see the First Blitz by Neil Hanson)
This led the Kaiser to make probably his only joke, ‘I can’t wait to see the Merry Wives of Saxe Coburg Gotha’ Oh how they laughed, well he was German.
p.s.
If they’d built the Castle a couple of miles away, the Royal Family would be called, ‘Slough’ which brings us back to bombs.
249 - Is it a black swan or a white swan event?
249 My thoughts exactly - Diana x Lennon.
238- She sounds way too good for a career in politics.
252 coldstone. Or the House of Eton !!
Endless pleasure for tim.
247
It is to be expected that a third term government, (certainly one in the middle of a recession, plus the expenses scandal) should be getting a hammering. It would be expected however, that the main opposition party, should be doing better than 38%, hardly a vote of confidence.
226/234 Dogs are predators, prey runs away.
The is a very scary breed of dog in Southern Africa - the Boerboel, which looks like a primeval mastiff (think Pit Bull, Newfoundland size). One of my cousins has one as a guard dog in her rather isolated home, when you visit you phone ahead and one of the family meets you in your car at the gate and accompanies you for last quarter mile drive to house, the dog has shredded tyres before. Once there you can’t go anywhere in garden without a member of family with you. I have owned guard GSDs, Ridgebacks and generally don’t worry about dogs but Boerboels…
253 A “White Swan” event would involve Marc Bolan, not Jacko
257
Coldstone, dont pump out that crap again, I have heard if from lefties over and over again.. Polling is nothing like it was 20 yrs ago. The headline figs do not take account of the real battlefield… the marginals. thats the real key.
256 - Berks would have covered all bases.
260. He also appears to have forgotten the expenses scandal which has knocked back all the main parties, and given others a big boost.
258 CHRIST!!!
http://boerboel.co.za/files/img/stories/dolly_500×497.png
http://boerboel.co.za/files/img/stories/dolly_500×497.png
That is one seriously gigantic dog
262. That should say “scandal has knocked”, no edit available.
261 But the House of Bucks would suit our thrusting young Princes…
Steady, young Loony!
261 tim. You mean Berks peerage ??
http://tiny.cc/ghCmg
That is one seriously gigantic dog
Jacko confirmed as gone
260 - 20 years ago with ICM, Kinnocks Labour were polling 42%
Please delete my other two posts about a dog - no idea what the mod software didn’t like.
266 Or one tiny, tiny person…
264 MM. You mean not the House of Bucks but Buck House !!
Wow
jacko gone tmz website
166 - I think I saw that monster in a Harry Potter film guarding the Philosopher’s Stone.
Reuters - Jackson dead.
272 - Now confirmed by Reuters
Moderate progress in reducing the deficit from the subterranean depths, but we need to see if the ‘Others’ settle before we can tell very much. In this case perhaps the secondary finding on best PM is more interesting. Reading the “Cameron is God, Brown is hopeless” views expressed here, you wouldn’t think the response would be Cameron 38 Brown 25 and (presumably) dunno/neither 37 - GB is not popular at present, but Cameron is also no more popular than his party, which presumably means that most of the ‘others’ supporters are saying “neither”.
274 - Please don’t send flowers, please donate to a charity for the victims of child abuse.
260
My personal prediction for the GE is Con 38.0, Lab 28.0, LD 20.0
Tories largest party, but just short of a Majority, I’m sure we’ll see the polls moving into that area shortly.
As for talking crap, I’ll remind you, that, Ghost of…. bet me a fiver, (charity box) that the SE would be below 3500 by June the 30th, so 5 days to go to lose nearly 800 points, could happen!!
UKPolling. C38(-2) L25(+1) LD 18(NC).
276- Nick, this seems to confirm something that Mike just said: if Labour could shake Brown loose and grab on to someone, anyone else, you might be able to surprise people.
Newsnight still way behind with the news on Jacko - “rushed ot hopspital”.
Lucky break for the Beeb - pushes their expenses into obscurity.
277 Be ashamed of yourself FFS
There is going to be mountains of bad news buried tomorrow.
277 You just can’t stop yourself, can you?
277 - De mortuis nil nisi bonum, Es mundus excrementi
283 Bet the BBC are wishing they hadn’t gone with expenses today.
*** NEW THREAD ***
Poll news: ho hum: margin of error: as you were: solid Tory victory.
Jackson dead???!!
Wow. Poignant yet somehow inevitable, a bit like Diana. Suicide?
Poor bastard. Very talented and very f*cked up man. Pity his kids, too.
new thread
I’m sorry for Jackson.
I’m also sorry that, for whatever sad reasons, he spent much of the last 30 years destroying his career in general and his face in particular.
new bot free thead………………….
The newspapers must be scrambling right now. A proper hold the front pay story for the tabloids. I wonder if it will make the Metro.
One report says overdose of sleeping pills. And will his conversion to Islam feature, or did he do a Ronnie O’Sullivan?
‘Hey Farrah what the f**k are you doing here?’
‘If you don’t mind me saying so Michael, this death business isn’t as much fun as your ‘Thriller’ video’
‘Well at least your a real Angel now, not just a Charlie’s one’
290 - so it wasn’t as easy as 1-2-3 then….
I feel sorry for jacko…he never did have a ‘normal’ life.
But to die at 50 is much too soon. It’s a sad story.
292. What did Ronnie O’Sullivan do???
264. “Young”? Me? It’s been a while I’ve been called young. I knew I was getting middle-aged when I realised that I was more than twice as old as some of the people I was thinking about while having a w!&*!nk.
If a creepy old guy who was almost convicted for paedophilia gets more news coverage than events in Iran, which may determine the future of the Middle East, have had, you know there’s no hope for us. We’ll be pathetic, celebrity-obsessed losers who deserve to be taken over by the Chinese.
Mike. Only just seen your topic. You should check into the local party HQ on the way to the ferry port (in Fratton Road)!
Hope you have a cracking time on the ferry, really is an experience.
Go and see the red duchess’s home -Medina Sidona - A house one could live in!