You guys ever consider that the world isnt black and white, good and evil? I watched the Benitio del Toro biopics of Che Guevara over the weekend. The guy was a fanatic Stalinist and loved organising a firing squad, but it is impossible not to admire the extraordinary gifts the man had. And he wasnt wrong about everything and neither was Thatcher.

A coalition does more to this end than the other recent majority administrations, IMO

I agree. My preference, depending on the leadership would be

1. Tory-Lib coalition
2. Tory
3. Labour-Lib
4. Labour

Though if you put the Blairites in sole charge of the Labour Party and told the unions to get lost I’d move Labour up to #3 or even #2.

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=2548

Carbon, XO, Sids, DT wheels, £2,100

Does a 100mm 29er have more “travel” than a 26er……? If you know what I mean. Does the wheel size help out on the rough stuff?

So are the Tories. Remember; they didn’t win last time

The Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is The Right Honourable David Cameron MP. I dont think it really matters that he doesnt meet your definition of winning.

But the problem with labour is that they’re so frightened of causing offence, they’re not actually for anything. You can’t nail your colours to the mast, if the mast is made of jelly.

They’re going to lose

Given that the proposal includes siphoning off of VED to grease the wheels of this little enterprise, it’s a wholly different kettle of fish to the road-pricing schemes we heard about under Labour.

Straw man

Are we against toll roads now? Or are we against them because it is the evil Tories who are moving in that direction? I well remember Labour floating the idea a few years ago of a national pay per mile road charging system. That got kicked into the long grass under pressure from the road lobby.

Back to Labour now

We have found one!

Thats the problem Labour are going to have. Lot of you guys are passionatly opposed to the government but how often does anyone on here ever say Vote Labour? It’s all SNP or Greens or Ernie giving us a lecture on Marxist theory. But hardly ever does anyone nail their colours to the mast with Messers Miliband and Balls. They are going to lose.

Come on say it jota…..vote Labour yes?

maybe because our electoral system doesn’t allow it?

just a thought

What you on about? If you dont like the Coalition (I do) then what are you all saying? Vote Labour for Miliband and Balls yes?

An the alternative is to vote for Ed Miliband as PM yes? You get a lot of whinging about this government but how come we never hear those magic words?

Wait a minute. Are you telling me a teacher or fireman in Cumbria gets the same salary as one in Hampshire? I know there is a London weighting right? Everyone else is on a flat scale?

I’m voting Libdem because I want a Tory government. Or even better another 5yrs of the Coalition!

My feet were pretty displeased at being shrouded in some Actions a few years back. Very comfy off the bike, but really pretty crap on! Find Spesh vastly more comfortable!

Yes but were they red?

I just got some Dragon IIs in shiny red for £200. My feet now love me.

Went for red because they are obviously the faster model.

So so wrong

You guys and your skeleton suits dont scare me.

Don’t take this the wrong way McBoo, but were you either bullied or a bully at school?

You have outed me. I am Daniel LaRusso.

MSP – dont take this the wrong way. But are you a student?

MSP wrote
The same Matthew Paris that wrote of stringing piano wire across cycle paths? He may have fooled you with his inclusive propaganda but his hatred of everyone who wasn’t like him was never far from the surface

Dont you think this is just a little bit mental? No? Really?

Its like the Jeremy Kyle show in here this morning.

Matthew Parris as Glenn Beck. Do you guys have any other setting apart from the default Tory = Hate?

Liberal Ernest, liberal.

But I am part of the 1% so feel free to hate me.

Wrong again Ernie. I’d be a gay friendly, keep your religious beliefs out of my face, liberal Bloomberg-Republican. Or a budget balancing, welfare reforming Clinton-Democrat. I’d vote to re-elect Obama because I love and admire the President a great deal.

What does however motivate right-wing politicians is a desire to redistribute wealth away from ordinary working people and towards the privileged few

If you really believe this you need to expand your circle of aquaintances. Matthew Paris wrote an article a few years ago I will try and find, putting forward the position that it was his desire to see EVERYONE better off, and more free that drove him to become a Conservative. It’s fine to put forward say a Keynsian argument as the best way to get the economy growing, there might be something in it, though it’s not my own point of view. What I cant stand is this tired, lazy attempt to paint everyone right of centre as conspiring to stick it to the working man, that moral purity lives only with the left.

Of course politicians and governments do have one extraordinarily powerful weapon in their armoury, and that is access, and to a large extent control, of the media.

Oh look its the Dacre Effect. In the absense of an argument, blame the public for reading newspapers you dont like. Go on give us a lecture on False Consciousness, I havent heard about that since around 1989. Very popular with the Glaswegian SWP.

There were a couple of industry types on channel 4 news yesterday claiming that the best thing to do to increase the number of employed people was to make it easier to sack people.

They claimed that companies would be willing to employ more people if they thought they could easily get rid of them again if things didn’t work out quite how they hoped.

Amazingly they managed to keep a straight face throughout the interview.

Thats just a flexible versus managed employment market argument, you need to calm down. Have a look at Italy or France, even in the boom years before the recession unemployment was stuck at around 10% or more, has been that way for a long time. Companies wont invest and cant hire unless they are certain the new venture is going to succeed and they rarely are. There isn’t anything very controversial about that.

You guys are a bit mental. You honestly think people on the right think as they do out of some self interested class hatred.

Why is female unemployment worse than human unemployment?

DT Swiss XRM100 Twinshot here that came on a new bike. Very nice they are too though the rubbish remote didnt last and was replaced by a regular lockout. Very smooth, doddle to set just right and adjust.

Cant say I’d want to pay £600 for them…..Reba is the sensible choice

I call Thread of the Year

Kettners for cocktails. Oscar Wilde’s favourite spot.

Cheshire Cheese for real olde worlde.

The perfectly preserved 3 or 4 streets of Hugenout terraces that still survive in Spitalfields, despite the best efforts of the Luftwaffe.

The tiny Georgean square tucked into Berry Brothers wine merchants on St James.

Berry Brothers cellars

Picnic on Primrose Hill at dusk. Hundreds of people enjoying the best spot in London, yet it feels like a secret.

The Blue Bar at the Berkeley Hotel.

The rooftop pool at the Berkeley on a warm day when they open the roof.

You haven’t covered your alma mater in glory there either, professor.

Yes we have already established that I didnt have the benefit of a classical education. Cheers.

Unlike yourself judging by the endless stream of drivel you post on here

Oh you big bitch you.

I get that you’re trying to be snarky but I think you mean “alma mater”.

‘Zactly. Mine isnt a Masters though, so what would one expect.

Not decided whether I completely agree or not yet.

The guy has written a thoroughly nasty article. Dont tie yourself in knots over it.

Master’s? Wow. You’re quite a credit to your alumnus.